Danny: I really disliked this version when it came out, it was almost them committing sacrilege to me. Still, as Randy said, the vocals were exceptional, (apart from a really bum note at the beginning that seriously made me wince), but much like when this version came out, it did nothing for me whatsoever. Sorry.
Kris: In my opinion, this type of music, Jazz funk, is something that is just sooo artificial and at the same time I also think it’s something that doesn’t quite know what to do with itself, and because of that Jazz Funk is one of my least favourite music. So, on that, the performance for me was just boring in every way, vocally as well as musically.
Lil: Oh nonononononono! This was awful. Awful awful awful. *shudder* She just does not have the gruffness nor the power to pull off singing this song. Now, at the beginning of American Idol I would have said the absolute opposite, but, uh-uh, not anymore. This was terrible, a horrible impersonation move wise and a terrible rendition vocally. Not good whatsoever. Ruined a favourite song of mine as well.
Anoop: This is another favourite song of mine and I confess, when I heard he was going to sing this, I was like “Eeeeep!” Oh no!” but golly, I really liked this rendition. I liked what he did with this. Excellent stuff!
As a side note: I kind of agree with Simon as well, a singing yo-yo, but I think that would fit more with Matt for me.
Scott: I think it’s obvious that I’m not much of a fan of Scott’s singing, it’s pretty insipid at times, and while this song could be sung in such a manner, he chose not to and it really didn’t work for me. He was badly out of tune near the end, almost as bad as Megan and the rest of it just plodded along. Not good I’m afraid.
Allison: I thought this was a great song choice for Allison. What I like about her singing is that when she lets rip, there’s no screeching or power, you just hear the feeling she’s putting behind what she’s singing and I love that. Best of the evening for me.
Matt: See, a singing yo-yo – chuckle. Last week was a really bad week for Matt, in my opinion, and yet this week, one of the best performances of the night. That’s what I want to hear from him, all soul and feeling. Great stuff!
Adam: I do prefer his singing when he’s singing a softer song, vocally, but I have to say that his theatrics do still bug me. He seems to over emphasise just about everything. I mean, I know this is personal choice, but, for me, when he performs it’s like he performs the song like a very bad amateur writer.
For instance, in a book, the writer has decided to have their main character receive some devastating news. A bad amateur writer will have their character fall to their knees, wailing pitifully and then they’ll give a detailed exposition of what their character is going through, but a good writer will give the reader the barest of details and allow the reader to feel it, trusting that the reader knows what it’s like to receive such bad news.
I suppose what I’m saying is that for me, Danny and Allison give me a truer, more honest performance when they let rip, and that Adam is so far from truth that it feels more like a pantomime of what he’s trying to convey.
Also, Adam cheated slightly, because although “Mad World” was released by “Tears for Fears” in the 80’s his version was taken from Gary Jules’s rendition from 2001. If I was Danny Gokey I’d be a bit p*ssed at that, because he sang the 80’s version of “Stand By Me”, and I think he would done a lot more with the song if he’d sang the original version by Ben E King.
So, all in all, I thought Adam was excellent vocally, as in, he was in tune and what not, (Apart from the beginning and at the end) but visually and some of the additions to the lines he added was fairly off-putting for me because he just put too much emphasis on them. *shrug* Not sure I’ve made sense here – chuckle.
I think the bottom three should be Lil, Scott and Kris.
