March 21, 2012 
Well, wouldn’t you know it. A tribute showcase of Billy Joel’s songs is the theme for the Top 10 Showcase and I won’t be around to see it.
I am still in vacation mode with family and friends so there is “no way Jose” that I will see the show on Wednesday evening.
Which is a shame – because I know my boy Bill’s songs like the back of my hand – he is one of my favorite singer-songwriters this side of Heaven.
The thought of me not being able to contribute a timely Vocal Masterclass article for this show is quite disturbing. Hopefully, my girl, Mindy Moore will be able to fill this void – she has certainly done all this and more over the last two weeks.
I will watch the performances online and, perhaps, surprise you with a quick Masterclass article on the weekend. When did vacations become more busy than real life?
Billy Joel’s songs are not easy. The ballads are not too difficult, but the uptempo songs are in a very distinctive Joel style, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Which makes me wonder – who will have the honor of singing his first hit, “Piano Man”. Will Colton claim the night with this song? And I can absolutely hear DeAndre’s voice singing the “Honesty” number.
Please add video and comments as the show progresses – you know I will be checking your reactions, giving me an idea of how this show is progressing.
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MCL,
I will have your back again with the masterclass article. I will get it up tonight. I am sure everyone is anxious to have you back and read your thoughts on all of these wonderful contestants.
On MJ’s blog some of the contestants tweeted about their difficulties choosing a song. Some of them were unfamiliar with Billy Joel. I know that MJ had her song choices up yesterday and there were some good ones. I believe that she picked “Honesty” for Hollie, after admitting that she beat her brain out trying to find an uptempo song with no success.
Jessica tweeted that she wasn’t too happy with her song and how it will turn out. I have a feeling that she is good enough to make it happen.
It’s true that there is a wealth of good material in the Billy Joel songbook, but as MCL said some of his songs can be very tricky. He made it look easy, because he is just that good.
If MJ posts any song spoilers before show time, I will post them here.
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I have the songs for tonight from MJ’s blog, but I don’t know who is singing what. The show has already started on the east coast, but I will be seeing it later on the west coast.
She’s Got a Way
Vienna
Movin’ Out
Only the Good Die Young
My Life
Honesty
Shameless
Piano Man
New York State of Mind
Everybody Has A Dream
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I think DeAndre sounded great and he is such a performer. Nice
Erika I really liked the hair cut not so much
Jacob SCREECHY and way to OTT MUTE
Skylar did not like. Nasal city
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In my opinion the outstanding performers tonight were Elise, Philip, Jessica, and Colton. And while I know he isn’t the best singer, Heejun really made me laugh, so I enjoyed this performance very much.
It’s often the kiss of death to go first, so I worry about DeAndre. Also I’m not so sure it was a good idea for Erika to change her appearance so drastically. People who liked her, related to her as she was. Getting a short haircut would have been fine, but I don’t think it was wise to also change the color so dramatically. But hopefully I’m wrong about that.
I love Hollie’s voice, but she definitely had some pitch problems tonight. And I’ve never been of fan of Skylar’s voice, and tonight’s performance didn’t change my mind. Joshua was good, but not as good as last week.
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I think it’s kind of interesting that the 2 best vocal performances/interpretations were from 2 of the oldest contestants, Ericka and Elise. I really enjoyed this evening. Even with performances that were pitchy at best, Skylar and Hee Jun, it was an outstanding evening. I never realized before how difficult Billy Joel’s songs can be to interpret.
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Well, I managed to see Jessica and Colton. Jessica was incredible. She is the one to beat, I feel.
And, I was so excited to hear that Colton was singing Piano Man because I indicated that this might happen. But, the excitement disappeared when I heard his dismal interpretation. I just did not like it at all. It seemed just wrong. Sucked the life out of that song.
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Mindy – thank you so much for having my back once again. What a lifesaver you have been. I can’t wait for your article and will post it as soon as it is available. 🙂
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Here is my vocal masterclass article for tonight’s performances –
Deandre – “Only the Good Die Young” – I think it was a good idea to go uptempo again, but I don’t know that this was the song for him. I think that Deandre made a great entrance moving forward on the stage to engage the audience. The performance level was great. He was moving around the stage, energetic, and showing off that charisma. He showed some raspy, gritty vocals and very little of that falsetto. I love Deandre and think he has so much potential, but the thought I came away with after this performance was, is it memorable enough given that he performed first? That is my question. We will have to see what the viewers think.
Erika -“New York State of Mind”- I actually suggested this song for either Elise or Erika on MJ’s blog yesterday. It was a huge risk for her to change her look so dramatically. I didn’t recognize her when I first saw her. I hope that it will help her and not cause some confusion for the viewers. I think she looked absolutely great! I loved the beginning at the piano and then Erika moving more toward the audience. I think this young woman has a gift for interpreting a song. She can get to the heart and soul of the words and just bring so much passion and emotion in her performance. We heard the full range of her gorgeous contralto. She showed off her highest range and seamlessly transitioned back to her lower range. I loved how she started slow and allowed the song to build momentum at the end. We don’t get to hear this kind of voice and it should be heard. She took Diddy’s advice and got into that NY State of Mind! Great interpretation and heartfelt vocals. I love her!
Joshua – “She’s Got a Way” – I could feel Joshua’s doubts about this song. I have to thank Diddy for calling him out on his tendency to shout and scream. Thank you! I thought Joshua heeded his advice and there was much less of the shouting and more pure singing. He had a great opening just sitting on that stool with the mic in his hand and the piano for accompaniment. Then he stood up and moved toward the audience as he started to build the momentum. The funny thing is, just as I wrote down that I don’t think he connected emotionally as much to this song, JLo gave her comments and said exactly the same thing! I couldn’t believe it. That has happened a few times with her. I don’t always agree, but this time I felt the same way. I am hesitant to criticize Joshua because of the quality of his vocals, but when he brings the emotion to this performance it just amps up the excitement level. I think he did kind of get there near the end with the chorus behind him and that great crescendo. I think he could have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir behind him and still be heard! I still love him and think he did very well, but even he admitted this was a tough song for him.
Skylar – “Shameless” – I loved seeing her sitting on the stage at the beginning. This was visually very strong and a great way to get the audience involved. She is such a natural on stage, confident and assured when performing. However, I did notice that she had some rough spots in the beginning vocally. I noticed that once she started walking around the stage, she went off key, got breathy and lost the words. There is an old rule that you never sacrifice vocal technique for the sake of movement. Get the vocals down perfectly, feel comfortable and then incorporate movement. That would be my advice to her moving forward.
Elise – “Vienna” – Good for her for sticking to her song choice this time! She took a risk by singing an unknown song, but one that she felt worked for her. It turned out to be the right choice. I liked seeing her standing at the mic off stage center at the beginning. Then she moved onto center stage as she continued to pour emotion and heart into her interpretation of this song. Her phrasing was beautiful and every song seemed to be caressed by her husky vocals. I thought that the ending was pure genius. Those little runs that are so hard to pull off, were impeccable and highlighted the end of a great performance. Well done!
Philipp – “Movin’ Out” – I think this was a good song choice for him. I love how he stays true to himself as an artist. He made the decision to sing with his guitar this time. He has gone without it in previous weeks, but this seemed to work with the song. I loved that there was less backup! He really doesn’t need it. I think he knows who he is as an artist and brings honesty and conviction to his performances.
Hollie -“Honesty” – I have to say that MJ picked this song for her. I think that this was a challenge for Hollie. I loved how she started off more softly, restrained. I was hoping to hear her pull back a little. I always get the chills when I hear that clarity and purity of tone in her voice. However, for the first time I did hear some off key notes early on in the performance. I thought she did a great job of connecting with the meaning of the song, although I don’t know that she was entirely comfortable singing it. I thought that the ending, where she pulled back from her powerful high notes to go soft and tender, was beautiful.
Heejun – “My LIfe” – Well, he faked us all out with this song! I heard online that he had something up his sleeve. Clearly, Heejun’s confidence seemed to have taken a hit with the criticism. At least he decided to go uptempo and have some fun on stage. That was so nice to see. I thought his vocals were good until he started moving around. Then he went off key and the breathiness came back and the words were lost. The performance value was great, but sacrificing the vocals isn’t necessarily a good thing. I don’t know how the viewers will receive this performance, but I am glad to see Heejun enjoying himself.
Jessica – “Everybody Has a Dream” – First, credit to Diddy for telling Jessica the truth and calling her out on her singing. He was right. I am already hearing the word “pageant-bot” about her. So when he told her that the vibrato and the tricks won’t do it, that was a much needed honest critique. He challenged her, threw down the gauntlet and asked her to feel the song and the make him believe. I think she really needed this advice. She deserves credit for being able to take it and use it to give another outstanding performance. She has gone to another level, showing a maturity and ability to interpret the words of this great song so well. She started off softly and gradually let the drama of the song build to a crescendo. Her high notes at the end were absolutely amazing. This was a technically brilliant vocal with the depth and power of real emotion and feeling. It’s not easy to be the frontrunner, but Jessica just showed that she can handle it and be even better. Brava! Standing “O”!
Colton – “Piano Man” – I liked seeing Colton at the piano. I think he has a sense of what song appeals to him or moves him in some way. I thought his vocals were quite good, but something was missing for me in this performance. It’s hard to put my finger on it, maybe it was the lack of originality, not bringing anything new to this great classic. He has this emotion in his voice that is compelling, but I thought this came off as a kind of carbon copy of a great original. I appreciate his effort and seeing him on the piano and his effort, but I just didn’t think he did the song justice.
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Sorry, but I had a big typo in my critique of Elise’s performance. It makes no sense the way I wrote it. I meant to say – Her phrasing was beautiful and every NOTE seemed to be caressed by her vocals!
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Oh, more typos. I must be tired. For Colton’s critique, I meant to say that I appreciated his effort and seeing him on the piano. I repeated the phrase “his effort”. I don’t know why.
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Mindy – excellent evaluation. And, I am happy to see that you were left cold with Colton’s rendition of “Piano Man”. It was not good, he sucked the life out of it.
A former student of mine performs this song often – with passion and jaw-dropping technique – so I can’t help but draw the comparison.
Anyway- will have your article up today. Thank YOU!!!
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I was sad to see Erika go–loved her voice. Last night when I saw that she didn’t look anything like the Erika from the week before, I was immediately afraid that she would be voted off. That was NOT a good idea to change her appearance so drastically!!!
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“For the Longest Time” would have been a good choice for DeAndre as Mindy mentioned. Overall, it was a good show. I really enjoyed Jessica’s performance but look forward to a dance number this coming week. Probably something by Beyounce.
I also agree the drastic change for Erika bothered me, but I think she has been low in votes as we go along. She was brought back as a Wild Card, and now she gets to go on the tour! Cool.
I hope next week will be good as the finalists take on songs from their “Idols”. Mariah, Beyounce, Miranda, etc. There are a lot of songs I don’t know, but I hope Jessica picks an exciting song. Colton will probably sing “Everything” by Lighthouse. Last year, I loved when Naima knocked it out of the house with “Umbrella”!
Roseanne, for some reason your emails are landing in my Spam folder. I don’t know how to prevent that from happening.
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MCL,
I hope you are enjoying your vacation and are sporting a new tan when you return. I’m looking forward to reading your reviews on the remainder of the season. Have a safe trip home.
Mindy,
Good work filling the void left by the vacationing MCL.
Erica was my second favorite of this group, so I would have liked her to stay longer. Elise has been my favorite since she sang “This is a Man’s World.” I’m actually sad to see the judges pimping her but I think there are three reasons why they are doing it. First, she deserved it. Second, I think they may be compensating for the excessive criticism she received for a song that Jimmy insisted that she sing at the last minute. Elise is actually a Blues and a soul singer with two different bands so “I’m Your Baby Tonight” was just wrong for her. Finally, the judges have always “guided” the audience toward the choice they prefer when there are similar contestants. Apparently they prefer Elise. We will likely see it again with Hollie and Jessica with Hollie the likely looser of that battle.
To Erica’s credit she has a great rich tone and a good artistic sensibility. She is also very good at working within her limited range. I watched a lot of her videos on the web a while back where she is performing as a wedding singer and she is caught out on high notes frequently in those vids. In my view it’s to her credit that she has learned how to pick songs that suite her or rearrange ones that don’t and that she has developed her falsetto to fill in some of the highs she can’t avoid.
There was no excuse for the way Randy dismissed Erika or Shannon. There is no excuse for Randy period. The fact that both of these contestants came in on a wild card would have been a perfectly acceptable explanation to offer to them as the reason they weren’t being saved. Or at least “no, I’m sorry honey, we’re not going to use the save this time.” Why save a contestant who was twice rejected by public vote when two will be eliminated the next week as a result. Casey is a perfect example of why the judges save should be eliminated from the Idol format. As a side note, go to iTunes and listen to Shannon’s songs. Very impressive, in fact, her recordings are among the best of the lot, IMHO. She should have waited a year or two.
It seems they cast a Sanjaya every season and this year his name is Heejun. Nothing more, nothing less. He should have never made the top 13. He made it because he was funny and sort of a sympathetic character who could almost sing. I will say that if this week’s assignment had been to do a vocal impersonation of Billy Joel that Heejun would have won the contest. It’s past time to watch Heejun’s Idol journey through tearful eyes on the big screen.
I wasn’t surprised to see DeAndre in the bottom three. I didn’t think any of the guys were up to their “A” game this week. Jennifer over praises all of them. Jim Jim has run his course. Colton is an overwrought rock star in a can. I think what DeAndre lacks is a developed sense of artistry. He has mad skills, looks, stage presence and star quality but he lacks the maturity as a performer to know what to do with them. He murdered his song this week. The tempo was awful, sort of sing-song, child like. Steven called it “happy” I think. His problem in this competition is that he is ill defined as an artist. The other three male contenders are well defined in their genre. Unless he does something spectacular he won’t outlast the other guys.
I’m not a Colton fan but I think he was in a no win situation. He was signing Billy Joels’ signature song that is autobiographical and needs every word of the lyrics to complete the story. If he had done nothing original with it, he would be criticized as being karaoke and if he made it his own he gets the man, what you were thinking routine. I didn’t care for his version either. Personally, I would have preferred that he had done it as nearly like the original, which we all know and love, as possible. A single smoky spot light and a beat up, upright piano would have been more appropriate than the shiny new red Yamaha and the lights borrowed from the X-Factor.
I’m glad to see Idol continuing from last year the use of past idols on the results night show. I hope Haley’s album does well, but I probably would have chosen a different song for the debut single.
Kariann,
That’s an exciting theme for next week if there are no limits on who they can select as their idol. Elise has a great opportunity to sell me another iTunes cut, but Skylar may have the biggest opportunity to shine from this theme. We can only hope that the Tommy Hilfiger segment will disappear starting next week. Of the two that took his advice, Joshua looked like a clown in a jacket that was too small and Erika got voted off the island.
If you use Outlook for your email, adding the person to your address book should prevent their email from going into the junk mail folder.
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Gene,
Where have you been? I have missed hearing from you so much! Great thoughts on the performances. Of course, you are right about the judges pimping Elise. In no way am I saying she didn’t deserve it. I gave her all the credit I could in my review. She has had a rocky road so far and this was her moment to shine. She had the guts to stick with an unknown song that she loved and that worked for her. This was easily her best performance.
I agree that “I’m Your Baby Tonight” was completely wrong for her. You could tell she was uncomfortable with it and didn’t feel committed and able to give it her best. But when the song is right, she is formidable!
If you have been reading my critiques, you know how much I loved Erika. I sensed that she probably wasn’t going to last. Regardless of the judges, the contestant has to connect in some way with the viewers. For whatever reason, that just wasn’t happening for her. I never heard her give one bad performance in the finals.
Since you mentioned her voice, I thought you might like to know that she has a nodule on one of her vocal chords. I revealed this info on the most recent topic thread, but since you spoke about her limited range, I thought it might be a good idea to say it on this topic thread, too. She said that four or five years ago she was more of a mezzo soprano but with this nodule she is now a contralto. She has adjusted very well to this lower range. The interview is posted on MJ’s blog. She had a few interesting things to say about the judging, too.
I gave Heejun the benefit of the doubt in my article, but honestly at this point I am having some real doubts about him. If you are going to do a performance like that, where you fake out the audience and then go into an unexpected uptempo number, the vocals have to be right on or it comes across as bad karaoke. I don’t know if he wants to be there or not. I will say that he certainly deserved to leave over Erika.
I completely agree with you about Deandre. He really has so much going for him, but doesn’t know who he is as an artist and what song works for his voice. I feared that he might be in trouble this week, because his performance was not memorable.
Please post more! We need to hear from you!
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Hi Mindy,
Thanks for the kind words in your reply. I’ve been very busy with several different things this year. I try to keep up, but I haven’t had much time to post. This week I wrote a long (too long) impression of the show, but I couldn’t get it to post.
I didn’t know Erika had an issue of a clinical nature with her voice or that she had once sang in a higher range. That’ interesting. I think I would prefer her current range. When the field of contestants began to form this year i began looking for bios and videos of them. There were quite a few vids for Erica out there at that time. I don’t know if they are still there, sometimes they take them down as they rise in the competition. Anyway, she sang as a wedding singer which has always had a stigma attached to it with Idol fans. That may be a reason for disconnect with her. She was having trouble with her voice in some of the videos. They may have been from a period before she adapted to the change brought on by the polyps or when they first began to affect her. I was pleasantly surprised by the way she had learned to cope with her limitation by the time she became known to the Idol audience. I remember one time in the early live rounds where she reached briefly for a note that wasn’t quite there and she had one arrangement, advised by the mentors, that wasn’t good. She was very good throughout the live rounds in my view.
The problem many of them are having this year is that, with the exception of one, they are all good singers. There are too many choices for voters to focus on and good singers will be dismissed for frivolous reasons. I usually look at the group in two different ways. The first is the relative merit of the singer to perform in their chosen style. That’s how Jimmy James can compare to Jessica. They are both good at what they do. What I put the most weight on is how they appeal to me as a music lover and consumer. Am I going to do business with this person? Little Jessica is the bomb, no doubt about it and I enjoy watching her perform. She is really in a class of her own when you look at the whole package. As soon as she leaves the Idol stage and starts pumping out teen pop I will no longer have an interest in her.
Elise, on the other hand, has a history of doing the music I like best. I have already bought two of her iTunes downloads and she shows promise as an interesting new artist. Do I think she will win? Heavens no! But she has already won in my book. She will record in the future and I will likely buy it. She has one characteristic to her singing that I wish she would do less of. I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say that she imitates Adele sometimes. Maybe Adele imitates her; she is older. South Carolina is a long way from London, so I’m pretty sure they aren’t sharing the same local accent. Stylish trends pass but she will still have the gritty voice and the background in good music. Apparently she has vocal training, possible education, if she is a vocal teacher a school of rock. I wasn’t arguing with you about why they are pimping her some now, just stating WHY I think they are doing it. I think they almost messed up with the heavy criticism they gave her earlier. She almost went home because of that and I think they expect her to make the top 5 or 6. We agree the song wasn’t the best for her but even still she performed it pretty well and didn’t deserve that level of criticism. This panel of judges, particuarly Jennifer, fails to realize the power of their words to influence votes. Sometimes they offer constructive criticism to one of the better contestants and praise a lesser contestant because they made a little progress this week but the voters interpret it as “the only one being criticized this week was so-n-so. So-n-so ends up going home. Other times they do it on purpose.
DeAndre has been a sad case this year. Have you noticed that he is nervous as a cat when he isn’t singing? He could really benefit from a full time mentor and vocal coach. He seems to have all of the tools but doesn’t quite know how to use the. I think some historical research would help him more than anything else he could do. Find the singers that share the gifts he has and listen to hours and hours of their records to learn when and how to utilize the skills he has. Learn at the foot of the masters and then make it your own.
This week I would have had a triple elimination. Heejun, Tommy Hilfiger and Randy Jackson.
My motorcycle is calling me.
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Hi.
I have been checking in from time to time to check up on you guys to make sure that you all are playing nice with each other…
You know how it is when the Masterclass teacher is away!!! 🙂
I have been catching a few of the performances on idol…I really like Elise and Phillip. I have not been able to watch the last full show yet, I taped it and watched Phillip and Elise’s performances! I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going to watch…still am not watching faithfully, but am trying to get interested, just so stinkin’ busy!!!
Gene W,
Wouldn’t it be great if Elise were to win? 😉
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Hi Vonnie,
I’ve missed reading your comments, but reading is about all I have had time for myself. I think that awful X -Factor beat me down.
I’m glad to see Elise beginning to get some love but no one would be more surprised than me if she won. In her favor is the fact that she shares some stylistic characteristics with Adel who is riding a wave of popularity now. The downside is that there are others who fall more in line with past voting patterns. James is probably top of the heap in that regard. It’s a little early to tell but I think there are some pairs in this group that will cancel out, one or the other, like Erica and Elise. The other pairings are looser Like Philip and Colton, Joshua and DeAndre, Hollie and Jessica. I believe that Joshua, James, Jessica, win those pairings and Elise has already won hers. That leaves Skylar with no direct competitor to round out the top five. With an audience who just crowned a country champion Skylar may be in a stronger position than it currently appears. Who knows; just thinking aloud.
Have you been watching DWTS? It’s a good season but no real star power. There was breaking news tonight about a new show coming in May on ABC. It is yet another singing competition but the line of judges was jaw was quite a surprise. Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles, Lionel Richie, David Thick. Three of the four are directly involved on NBC’s The Voice. They’re all sleeping together.
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My bad, Robin Thicke, not David.
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Thanks for keeping this blog topic rocking and rolling everyone. And special thanks to Vonnie for checking up on the Masterclass students. That was my laugh of the day!! 🙂
I will be traveling home this week (it takes three days from beginning to end), so once again, I will not be able to contribute a Masterclass article.
Hopefully, Mindy will do the honors once again. Thank you Mindy for taking the time to do this – your assessments are excellent.
Starting next week, with the Top 8, I will resume my Vocal Masterclass articles. It seems very weird to be so “out of the loop” with this show, but that’s what vacations are for, I guess. Fly by the seat of your pants time!
I will add a blog topic for tonight’s show later on today.
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Gene W,
What is the new show? GOSH I don’t know if I can stand another singing show!
MCL,
LOL…!!! 🙂
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