Last night the Final Four proved that they really like animals, as their “Songs of the Cinema” choices evoked thoughts of a whale, a gopher and a “cougar.” (Oh, and don’t forget Batman! Or was it Seal?)
Though they may know a lot about animals, they could still stand to learn a thing or two about song selection. With so many pieces to consider, one wonders how they decided upon these seemingly random ones. And while the judges enjoyed the two duet numbers, both songs were performed just last season on the same “Songs of the Cinema” episode.
There were a few differences, though. For instance, instead of last year’s WTF guest mentor, Quentin Tarantino, this year we were graced with the presence of WTF guest mentor Jamie Foxx.
Again.
Was he really that great a judge during last year’s Rat Pack Week? He clearly bribed the producers with his ingenious “Artist/Contestant” T-shirt schtick and weaseled his way back to the Idol stage. (In his defense, I’m sure that concept sounded much better on paper. At least, I hope it did.)
Apparently he was the perfect choice for Movie Week since he won the Oscar for his dramatic portrayal of Ray Charles. (Oh, and also because he sings deep songs about a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.) Do you really need to be a movie actor to sing a movie song, though? Lord knows that we won’t see any of these Idols acting soon; there is not a Jennifer Hudson among them and I doubt they could collaborate on anything as deep as “From Justin to Kelly.”
LEE DEWYZE “Kiss From A Rose” by Seal from “Batman Forever”
Despite Foxx’s attempts to “Michael Mann” him by getting uncomfortably close to Lee’s face while he sang, this song just didn’t work. And what an odd choice it was! The notes are up and down and all over the place, plus there are so many distractions in the form of strings and backing vocals. While Lee’s got a bit of raspiness to his voice, there’s only one Seal; and, based on this performance, DeWyze isn’t gonna be waking up next to Heidi Klum any time soon. That being said, I still think Lee could take home the prize in two weeks. In fact, I will be shocked if he doesn’t make it to the Final Two.
MICHAEL LYNCHE “Will You Be There” by Michael Jackson from “Free Willy”
Big Mike is feeling a lot of pressure from his city and his family to make it to the Top Three. Perhaps he’d feel less pressure if he didn’t choose songs by legendary superstar Michael Jackson. What was he thinking? While this is a beautiful song, its beauty is in the way it keeps building to the gospel climax. On “AI,” there isn’t enough time to build to much of anything and the edited versions often sound watered down. Oh, and BTW, this isn’t “American Gospel Choir Idol.” I want to hear what Mike can do, not how good the backup singers are.
