Een analyse van de finale van allmusic.com. Leuk om te lezen.
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quote:
American Idol, Week 23: The Finale
Songs Performed:
Taylor Hicks - "Living for the City," "Levon," "Are You Proud of Me?"
Stevie Wonder - Living for the CityListen Now!
Elton John - LevonListen Now!
Taylor Hicks - Are You Proud of Me?Listen Now!
Katharine McPhee - "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," "Over the Rainbow," "My Destiny"
KT Tunstall - Black Horse and the Cherry TreeListen Now!
Jane Monheit - Over the RainbowListen Now!
Katharine McPhee - My DestinyListen Now!
Contestant Eliminated: Katharine McPhee
The Winner!: Taylor Hicks
AMG COMMENTARY:
STEPHEN THOMAS ERLEWINE: So now, the end is here....
...and the winner is Taylor Hicks. Not only did he have three solid performances this week - he was the shakiest on the new song, I thought, but I can't blame him for that (nor can I blame Katharine for her shakiness on "My Destiny") -- but he was sharp in his song selections. Having his two reprises be songs from earlier in the season was a masterstroke, since they not only sounded fresh, but they helped remind us that he's been consistent throughout the show -- and for those that haven't watched all of the long five months, they were new performances, which made him more dynamic. Kat, on the other hand, hauled out songs from the last two weeks and while "Black Horse" and "Over the Rainbow" were indeed two of her best performances -- and she probably did do "Rainbow" better this week than last -- they're too fresh in our mind to get a new perspective on her. So, that may be one of the reasons she lost to Taylor, but she could wind up being the biggest runner-up since Clay -- and Idol finally has gotten their first white male winner ever.
ROB THEAKSTON: I thought Taylor sounded tired and heavy during "Levon", but in comparison to Katharine he did very well. I don't like the new songs, especially Katharine's. It just reminded me way too much of a song you'd hear during the credits of a Lifetime movie.
ANDY KELLMAN: "Someone She Knows."
Awful song or not, Katherine choked.
HEATHER PHARES: Totally! "My Density" -- er, "Destiny" -- also had that escaped from a Disney movie quality, too, especially since Kat looks a lot like Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
TIM SENDRA: It was Taylor's night. He has an unshakable faith in himself that not even that terrible new song could budge. I will never fully embrace a guy who can make "Living in the City" sound like a party anthem but it is great that someone so uncool could win Idol. He could be the next Huey Lewis and I know we've all been waiting for that!
AK: Something tells me that Taylor has only seen/heard Stevie's live performances of that song.
PERRY SEIBERT: Taylor is the best showman they've ever had on the show. He showed it Tuesday, just as he showed it almost every week, and that's the reason he won. That and he is simply more interesting as a performer and as a television personality than Kat.
Taylor also won most of the intangibles: his dad was more entertaining than Kat's dad and we all know how well Southern boys do on this show.
MATT COLLAR: Kat really did choke. She's such a fantastic singer, it's perplexing as to why she has such a hard time singing on pitch.
I agree with Simon that it was a draw until they sang the new songs. Taylor can sell anything.
HP: See, that's the weird thing, though -- I think Kat got *choked up* as much as she choked during that song. Like she was so proud and happy to be singing in the final two in front of her parents and everyone that her actual singing suffered. She let a moment like this get to her.
MC: She did, but she was way off pitch from the start and when the main part of the song kicked in it didn't get any better. There was never a moment in that song that felt comfortable.
AK: You could tell that Randy had worse things to say about that particular performance but chose not to -- he probably didn't want the final votes to be significantly swayed by it.
TS: What was really tough about her performance is that she doesn't seem as confident with the big emotional climaxes. The beginning of the song where she sang quietly and low (and in her natural range) sounded really nice but when the song started to build, she got left behind and had to press too hard which led to some disastrous vocal "runs". Taylor never has a problem with climaxes, indeed the verses to him are just a bunch of words to get through on the way to shouting the choruses like Hootie gone wild.
HP: Refresh my memory -- is this the first time that the final two have sung two totally different songs? Not to be too much of a Kat apologist, but that "My Destiny" song was a real stinker (so much so that not even Randy could pretend it was good). "Make Me Proud" or whatever it was called wasn't great either, but I don't see why she couldn't have sung that, too.
STE: It was indeed the first time that the final two had different songs, which I do think is unfair -- it's very interesting to hear how they compare on one new song, which is almost always terrible. And Kat's was indeed more terrible than Taylor's, although why on earth were they both these gormless gospel numbers?
And I think everybody would be better off if the new singles weren't at all about the Idol experience -- from "A Moment Like This" to "Make Me Proud' to "My Destiny," they're all about what a wonderful opportunity it is for the singer, and only "A Moment Like This" has a universal enough statement to apply to a prom or a wedding or whatever (not to mention a melody). They'd be better off singing just a good straight-ahead song.
TS: I thought it was hilarious that the judges were criticizing the new songs that are going to be released as singles. I can just picture the guys at the record label throwing their champagne glasses at their plasma TV's. Maybe Randy's blatant disregard for shifting units will earn him a well-deserved bus ticket home.
AK: Haven't Randy and Simon routinely slammed the final songs?
STE: Yes, they ALWAYS have, which makes me wonder who chooses them and why they insist on following this direction for the songs.
HP: I just meant that I can't remember any of the judges bashing the new song right off the bat, even before commenting on the vocals.
cover AK: When Justin and Kelly had to do "A Moment Like This," it at least showed how Kelly could add something to a song, while Justin could not. That's the best argument for having both finalists sing the same song.
STE: I agree completely. It would be really interesting to hear Taylor on "My Destiny," to see if he could make it a little livelier, or if the song is so bad, not even he could do anything with it.
HP: It also annoyed me just how sickly-sweet and hyper-feminine and clingy "My Destiny" was, how it couldn't be done "without you." At least "Make You Proud" had a line about "standing tall" -- why couldn't Kat sing about that too? The show was very much about girls vs. boys last night, even if both the song from Venus and the song from Mars sucked equally.
STE: Well, the song wasn't written for her strengths -- in fact, both of the songs had verse melodies that were written low and conversational, and it would require a really skilled seasoned singer to put them across. Neither really did it well -- Taylor shone toward the end of the song, not when selling the verse, which is a crucial point of being a good singer.
Then again, they were really lousy songs.
AK: Didn't Taylor's song have something about raising his fists?
HP: The song was trying to be sentimental and tough at the same time. It also had a weirdly quasi-patriotic feel to it, like it was meant to be played when soldiers are going off or coming back from a tour of duty.
MC: I kept thinking Taylor was singing "I Can't Make You Love Me".
STE: I wonder just how quickly these songs were written, or if they had a stock pile of songs that they could choose from. Because it's very, very hard to imagine Chris Daughtry or Elliott Yamin singing "My Destiny" -- although it would have been quite amusing.
AK: They probably had another song in reserve parenthetically titled "Boy Finalist".
artist MC: Isn't that a Morrissey song?
HP: Oh, it also amused me how much of "My Density" sounded like "Because of You" transposed into a major key and thus changed into a happy song about parents instead of a brooding one.
JAMES CHRISTOPHER MONGER: You could almost see the 2006 "Seniors Rule" high school assembly slide show playing behind it.
The funny thing is, even though pretty much everyone on earth agrees that both songs were pure feces, units will be moved, played once then sold at Salvation Army kiosks for about a year next to old copies of "Doubt" by Jesus Jones.
AK: That's very true -- I doubt anyone under Clive's wing lost sleep last night over the judges' reactions.
MC: Once again, my theory that the producers force the female contestants to sing these big, hard-to-sing diva songs holds true. Kat is not cut out for that kind of epic caterwauling.
She's much better suited for "Midnight At The Oasis".
PS: Now I'm picturing a duet with Kat and Taylor on that song just like Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara in Waiting for Guffman.
MC: I cannot believe the producers didn't make them duet on "Up Where We Belong"!
AK: That's what I was just about to say.
HP: That would have been awesome! A night of songs from Christopher Guest movies would also be inspired.
MC: And, of course, I meant Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara should sing it.
TS: I'd love to hear Taylor sing "Big Bottom". To see him investing a line like "Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em" with a big scoop of cornpone soul would be about the funniest thing ever.
PS: And Chris Daughtry doing anything by The Folksmen...comedy gold.
STE: I would like it if they broke away from the Diane Warren style -- bring in some Nashville pros, or have somebody like Dan Wilson, whose work on the Dixie Chicks album is surprisingly strong, to write something.
AK: The least the producers could do is scare up songs that match the finalists' personalities. At this point the show should have enough clout to be able to call on some fast-working songwriters to cough up something suitable in time.
MC: Ween?
artist STE: Dean and Gene could do it perfectly -- they know how to write in specific genres, and they could have just given "Boy's Club" to Taylor.
RT: I think if Ween wrote the song for the AmIdol finale, this Earth regenerate itself into an Eden-like setting.
HP: Oh man, what I wouldn't give to hear Taylor sing "Where'd the Cheese Go?" or "Buenas Tardes Amigo"....
STE: Or "Take Me Away" ... He'd hit that "thank you" at the end perfectly.
AK: I'd pay at least a nickel to hear Chris do "Buckingham Green."
STE: I'd pay a whole dollar for that -- he'd really sell that song.
Elliott could do "Pork Roll Egg and Cheese" and Kat can do "Don't Laugh (I Love You)" and you'd have a killer EP there...
AK: If Frank Zappa and the Monkees (or Zappa and Miami Vice, or Zappa and about 12 other things) can cross paths, there's really no reason why something like this can't happen.
STE: Amen. Hell, bring back old contestants. Constantine does "Doctor Rock." Bo sings "Booze Me Up and Get Me High." The possibilities are almost endless.
AK: As long as Kevin Covais gets "Pandy Fackler".
PS: If Taylor wins, doesn't it seem likely he will be the biggest success the show has produced since Clarkson? I mean among the actual winners of the contest.
AK: Certainly for over-20 pop culture junkies, at least. Beyond that is a big question mark, at least to me.
JM: I think he might, but at twenty-nine I have a feeling he's gonna end up on TV more than in the studio. Kat's a better bet, as she's only twenty-one and has years to disintegrate.
PS: And that's part of the reason I think he'll be very successful. American Idol is still first and foremost a TV show and Taylor feels like a TV star...one I want to see again.
AK: The time to make a US equivalent of Jools Holland's Later is now. Taylor hosts a few bands/artists, chats with them, and performs with his own band at the end.
JM: Hell yes, "Live with Taylor Hicks"! It would be like a cross between Larry King and the Gong Show with quick cuts to the Grey Goose tearing up the floor during others' performances.
MC: Hey, did anybody else notice that they had a shot of "Katherine's Friends and Family" on screen, but it was clearly Tori Spelling?!
HP: Yeah, that was an LOL moment, along with Christina Applegate realizing the camera was on her and quickly joining the standing ovation.
PS: I found it funny that the two people who don't get their name put on screen were Ben Stiller and Constantine.
AK: Well, that's because everyone knows who Constantine is -- it goes without saying. His sitcom is going to be huge.
PS: If that show is a hit that will say a lot about why people watch Idol.
JM: "Ben Stiller and Constantine" sounds like a tiny hardcover Mitch Albom book about a little boy from the Hamptons with an incurable disease whose wish for the "make a wish foundation" is to meet Derek Zoolander.
AK: If it has inanimate objects talking to one another (I don't mean the subjects), I will buy it.
MC: Mitch Albom should be a guest judge.
PS: Mitch can play piano, he could coach them.
AK: "2007 needs its own Turnstiles. I've been saying this for years. Since 1977."
STE: All I can think of when I think of the sitcom is that Constantine is going to look pissy and entitled throughout it -- just like he does whenever he's been on camera on Idol this season. Which, of course, will make it absolutely hysterical.
PS: After Wednesday night the only thing I know for sure is that I will be forever scarred after seeing Chicken Little's rendition of "What's New, Pussycat."
JM: That was indeed a therapy-inducing moment, but nothing prepared me for the single, devastating tear that fell from David Hasselhoff's cheek when Taylor was announced the winner. It changed me in ways I can only begin to understand.
MC: Yes, it was as if the Hoff's entire career coalesced, at that moment, into a singular and deeply palpable yearning.
JM: It reminded me of those old anti-litter PSA's with the stoic Native American weeping in front of a mountain of garbage. Wouldn't it be great if they remade Knight Rider with Taylor as the voice of Kitt! It could be called "Soul Patrol".
PS: Taylor is going to be huge in Germany.
RT: I also enjoyed the resemblance to Right Said Fred when Chris and Live took the stage together.
artist AK: Kowalczyk to Daughtry, as they exited the stage: "Come, Mini-Me."
MC: They were like the Righteous Brothers of post-grunge.
PS: It was a thrilling scowl-off, but I'd say the old master out serious'ed the young upstart.
AK: No one is more serious than Live's guitarist, though.
Last night proved that Paris and Mandisa deserved much better, but at least they didn't have to sing with Meat Loaf -- that was cruel and unusual punishment.
TS: I didn't realize Mandisa was so good. She made the parade of legends who could barely even find pitch, much less stick to it, look like a bunch of hacks. Even Prince was a let-down. It was kind of weird that the best two guest performances were from past Idols Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken. Weird and kind of cool too.
MC: I just love how on a show that panders to pre-teens, they bring out Al Jarreau like he's Michael Jackson at the '83 Grammy Awards.
artist TS: Prince had a chance to grab the spotlight and rip it to shreds with "When Doves Cry" or "Kiss," or even "Black Sweat." Instead he peddled some lame new album tracks and probably left kids who had never heard of him (and I'll bet there are more than we might care to admit) wondering what all the fuss was about.
JM: Agreed. I bet that Prince helped move about four copies of his new record with last night's performance and thousands of his "Greatest Hits" disc.
AK: He probably did the show since he didn't have to associate with the contestants in any way.
STE: Absolutely -- that was allegedly the reason he backed out of an all-Prince show earlier this year. And even if it wasn't prime Prince, I really like that first song with its 1999-synths, and it was fun to hear -- plus there's something I love about him going out to hawk the new album then leave, having no interaction with anybody on the show. Made me laugh out loud.
AK: Whether or not the new songs live up to his past, Prince remains a dynamite showman.
MC: In truth, I actually really enjoyed all the guest performers. More than any other season it was clear how much the AmIdol producers want to connect the idols with the history of pop.
STE: I also enjoyed all the guest performers -- and I enjoyed the whole show very much, which was far and away the best finale they've produced since the first, if not ever. It's like they pulled out all the stops to make the show entertaining since there wasn't much suspense about who was going to win. Even the guest performers that didn't do a great job -- Al Jarreau sounded off to me and Dionne Warwick is losing it -- were fun to watch. And even if Meat Loaf was shaky, that performance was terrific to me because it showed that Kat is really good at theatrical rock & roll -- she was acting the part out! That was fun.
MC: That's the rub with guest artists and AmIdol. You have David Hasselhoff who would sell his spleen to perform on the show and then Prince who could really care less.
Somewhere in the middle is Kenny Rogers whose album is probably going to go triple-platinum because he showed up and played nice.
PS: That reminds me, kudos to the Idol producers on Scoring the Rodgers hat trick this season - Paul, Kenny, and Prince.
RT: At first I was so so happy that my wish for a Steinman Idol song came true, but then Loaf just totally butchered that song beyond recognition. Why didn't they do one of his own songs?
MC: You can say what you will about Meatloaf, but pairing him with Kat was genius rock & roll theater.
artist RT: Disagree. It was a failed experiment of a promising collaboration. If Loaf could have been on key and if they could have harmonized a bit better, I would have been the first one to stand up off the sofa and applaud. But that was just bad, bad showchoir.
MC: I guess I have different standards when it comes to AmIdol. I mean, on a show where the norm is average singers trying to out-diva Mariah Carey, bad showchoir is a refreshing step in the right direction for me.
RT: I'm not knocking your standards, I'm berating Loaf's audio vandalism of classic Steinman. Meat, of all people, should know better.
AK: Rob listens to Celine's version all the time.
RT: I do. Anyone who wants a CD-R of my Back To Stein compilation is welcome to it.
PS: The "idea" of the performance was great, but Meat was so bad. Kat was fantastic and deserved better.
MC: I disagree. This brings up one of the biggest flaws in AmIdol's star-making machinery, which is that most of the idols, including Kat, are not ready for solo careers. Taylor definitely is. He's already a seasoned stage showman who can play to the back of a theatre. Kat on the other hand is just beginning to learn how to be herself on stage. I think a world tour backing up Meatloaf and having to really perform beyond herself would do her good. As it stands, she'll probably go cut some boring, studio-crafted pile of limp mainstream pop garbage that won't really bring out her real personality.
STE: I think you're right, Matt -- Taylor, as hammy as he is, does know how to work a crowd, and I think nowhere is that more evident than on the "rocker" medley last night, where he stole the spotlight just by playing harmonica. He's not the best harp player in the world, but it really brings out his personality, and showed that he's more versatile and entertaining than the other guys up there. Kat needs a little more actual stage experience -- and I don't know if the confines of the AmIdol tour will really help, though.
AK: The machine is working, though -- it's making platinum and gold albums.
AK: Taylor's appeal is much like that of the PT Cruiser -- he is old but he is also new.
MC: Or do you mean the new Mustang convertible?
AK: No. JM: I agree with Matt. It felt a lot more like an old variety show with Katloaf on the bill, but where was a gong when you needed one.
MC: EXACTLY, the more vaudeville the better!
cover STE: The variety show aspect is what I like best about the show -- that whole rocker medley with the guys singing "Tobacco Road" is something you just don't see anywhere else. And having the final five sing with their idols -- although I doubt Taylor idolizes Toni Braxton -- is a brilliant move that plays up the variety show aspect.
And all of the final five pretty much held their own last night, too.
MC: How weird was it to see Chris Daughtry forced to sing "Arthur's Theme"?
STE: If it wasn't for the Clay saga, that might have been the weirdest moment yesterday. Why did Chris get that song and not, say, "Little Red Book" or "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," two songs that are associated with rockers?
AK: Because Chris has proven himself to be a pompous jerk.
STE: Touché -- maybe they did want to humiliate him, then.
For as good as he sounded with Live -- and he did -- pairing him with his idols did illustrate that, in comparison, Ed Kowalczyk has far more range and charisma and presence. And those are words that I thought I would never say about Kowalczyk.
For me, last night was proof that Ace was the worst singer of the bunch. Sure, Kevin is ridiculous and unnatural, but he never tries to be more than a nerdy little kid. Ace can not carry a tune! And he's not sexy, no matter how hard he tries.
MC: For me it's Bucky who is the worst.
AK: I didn't think Bucky was bad at all! He showed a different side to himself last night, which he should've used during the competition.
Ace is a damp squib.
HP: Yeah, for me Bucky was actually one of the more natural and restrained performers last night (not sure if that's a good thing in the ultra-cheesy context of the finale, though).
MC: There's really no good reason for either of them to be singing on a stage, but I guess that's beside the point.
STE: You see, Bucky I can understand -- he's not great on certain songs, but given the right tune, his growl really works. In his style of music, he works. Plus, there's something kind of sweet about the guy that I like. Ace doesn't work within his own chosen boy-band/lover-man style! He misses notes, his poses are amateurish -- he has negative charisma!
Clay's mini-me didn't know Clay was showing up, did he? Those were genuine tears, and perhaps the most magical moment of the night -- that new haircut on Clay!
HP: Clay's new do bore a striking resemblance to fellow former contestant Jim Verraros' makeover from a couple of years ago -- long, side-swept, pseudo-emo locks. He also looked a bit like a more flamboyant Harry Potter.
MC: Ha! You said Jim Verraros.
STE: That is true though -- it was strikingly like Jim's. Which may not be a coincidence.
HP: No, I didn't think it was either.
It's kind of amazing how mini-Clay made the real Clay look almost strapping and handsome...
STE: I really can't get over how mini-Clay just looks sickly.
So, to wrap it up -- did the right person win?
MC: Unequivocally, yes.
PS: Yes. Not only out of the final two but out of all 12.
AK: Yes, not that I expected this result at the beginning. Out of the 12, however, I'm not so certain. I would've liked to see Paris and Mandisa through all the rounds.
HP: Yeah, I guess so. At the very least, that finale had Taylor written all over it -- it was incredibly cheesy and entertaining.
TS: Taylor is the perfect American Idol.
RT: We're all winners for the experience.
JM: When Hasselhoff weeps, we all win.