As Seen On Blogcritics – Page 13

Idol Wired >> Another Girl Bites The Dust

And so it goes, Karen Rodriguez was eliminated from American Idol this week. Not shocking in the least. And she did herself absolutely no favors by singing Mariah Carey’s “Hero” as her swansong, and then pleading to the judges for “The Save.” Ooh…girl. That save is reserved for Lauren Alaina, Pia Toscano, and possibly Casey Abrams.

In my eyes, Karen was booted for her hot mess of a performance from last week. I think sometimes when contestants have a bad performance, the audience’s opinion of them carries over into voting the following week. Not saying that it’s fact, just that it could be the case for Karen’s dismissal this week.

Let’s talk about the other two contestants that found themselves alongside Karen in the bottom three this week, Haley Reinhart and Naima Adedapo.

I figured that Haley would find her way back to the bottom three just based on the judges comments from the night before. The judges definitely can sway the vote, and if they are consistently giving a contestant a hard time, I think that translates to the audience as, “Vote for Lauren Alaina.” Ha ha, I’m kidding. But, I do think that their comments combined with her lackluster performance is why Haley found herself back in the bottom three this week.

I was legitimately disappointed when Ryan Seacrest announced that Naima was headed to the bottom three. I think the judges gave her too much of a hard time in their critiques. Her performance was nowhere near as bad as they made it out to be. She is one of the more polarizing contestants this season, and it would be a shame to see her before she reaches her full potential on the show. I think Naima is keeping the show fresh and bringing something new to the table. If she’s eliminated in the next few weeks, I feel like it could be a devastating blow to the season.

I wanted to touch on this week’s group song, which was a mash-up of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” First off, good on Idol for a live group performance! Nigel Lythgoe tweeted last week that the group performance was live, which I’m still not sure I entirely buy, but it is what it is. I felt like this week’s mic issues were done purposely to show that the contestants were singing live. You got your point across, Nigel.
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Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Original Song”

In this week’s mix of music, Glee offered up three full-length original tracks, as well as three tracks from Dalton Academy’s Warblers, and a solo from Chris Colfer. To be honest, this was probably one of the best weeks for Glee, musically speaking.

Let’s talk about the original songs, shall we? Both “Get It Right” and “Loser Like Me” debuted after the announcement that there would be original songs on Glee this season a few weeks ago.

Upon first listen, I was semi-horrified at “Loser Like Me.” It’s co-written by the master writer of all pop songs, Max Martin, so I felt like I had to give the song another chance. It’s definitely a Max Martin song. It has a good beat and cheesy, yet catchy lyrics.

I think that it should not have been sung by Lea Michele (Rachel) and Cory Monteith (Finn). I am assuming they were showcased in the song, since it was being used for Regionals, and neither of them were featured in the songs used for Sectionals. I think that Mark Salling (Puck) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) would have been a better fit for the song. Ushkowitz is a wasted talent on the show and deserves her turn in the spotlight.

Michele’s voice on “Get It Right” is phenomenal. I love how her vocals are reined in, and then build up to that wonderful glory note. I seriously got chills while listening to it. I also love how the song related to Michele’s character’s storyline.

The thing with both “Get It Right” and “Loser Like Me” is that they work much better within context of the episode, which is definitely a good thing. I think both songs are pretty good anthems, and hopefully they do speak to the audience. But for me, I probably won’t be singing along to them in my car anytime soon.

“Hell To The No” was the third original song included in with this week’s song releases. Amber Riley (Mercedes) takes the lead on this very much ridiculous track. I just can’t take this song seriously when there’s a line about the previous tots storyline. Also, this is probably Riley’s weakest vocal performance to date. She sounded as if she was shouting throughout the length of the song.
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Idol Wired >> Top 12 Standings

I reviewed last week’s performances, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the females of American Idol season 10 are having a bit of a hard time this season. Take a look at my current standings for this season’s Top 12 as of last week’s performances.

12. Karen Rodriguez

Karen’s star is fading awfully fast. Blaming her pitchy performance of Selena’s “I Could Fall In Love” on a “couple technical difficulties” during the results show last Thursday was eye-roll inducing. For Karen to survive this week, she’s going to have to step outside of her Selena/J-Lo repertoire, sing something that gets people talking, and sing it well.

11. Jacob Lusk

It’s time for Jacob to realize that his performance of “God Bless the Child” was his season 10 shining moment. He has now tried to re-create this moment twice, and it is not paying off in his favor. I think he is going to need to rein in his vocals and try something a little more subdued. Sometimes the quieter performance can be quite powerful (i.e. Kris Allen’s performance of “Falling Slowly” during season eight.)

10. Haley Reinhart

I like Haley, I really do. She’s been able to show the versatility in her voice this season in her past couple performances. That aside, she seems to lose her nerve midway through her performances, which causes all sorts of pitch problems. Haley needs to stay confident in her ability to continue to survive each week.

9. Thia Megia

I seem to be the only one that doesn’t get the weird, old fashioned tone to Thia’s voice. Personally, I don’t think she has a voice that will go over well on the radio. Singing-wise, Thia needs to adapt her style and show that she can be current. Personality-wise, I’m sure she has one, but I’m just not sure why she’s opting to operate in robot mode all the time.

8. Lauren Alaina

Oh, how quickly they fall from grace. Lauren’s problem last week was that her performance was boring. She can definitely sing, but she has to work on her stage presence. I suggest finding space in that mansion that the contestants are currently living in and practice on moving while singing. If she can match her stage presence with her singing, she will probably save herself from an early ouster.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Top 12 Standings

Music Review >> Glee Cast – “Sexy”

You know that phrase, “catching lightning in a bottle”? I think that is what Glee accomplished the first time with guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow (Holly Holiday). Her rendition of Cee-Lo’s “Forget You” is one of season two’s better tracks. Paltrow even went on to perform the hit with alongside Cee-Lo at this year’s Grammy Awards.

This time around, I felt like the magic was mostly missing from the three tracks Paltrow is featured on this week. That could be because she is not one of those singers that can sing the phone book. She’s good, but she’s not Lea Michele.

To kick things off on a positive note, Paltrow’s take on the Joan Jett song, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” is pretty good. I think Paltrow sounds best when she’s able to infuse some personality into the songs she’s singing. I think that is part of why “Forget You” became fairly popular, that she sounded pretty sassy while she was singing it. This was my favorite of the three Paltrow-dominated tracks this week.

Dalton Academy’s Warblers took on Neon Tree’s hit, “Animal,” this week. I would just like to say that it’s about time that Chris Colfer (Kurt) is featured on a Warblers’ track. Although, both his and Darren Criss’(Blaine) vocals were slightly attacked by the monster known as auto-tune. Colfer and Criss have fantastic singing voices, I don’t completely understand the need to overdo it with the studio magic. Shout out to Tuft University’s Beelzebubs for another job well done with the backing vocals.
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Idol Wired >> Ashthon Ousted

And so it has begun, Ashthon Jones was eliminated last night on American Idol after her rather boring rendition of Diana Ross’ “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” Wednesday night.

I believe that the show is looking for the next hugely successful pop star, which is why Ashthon was picked by the judges to advance to the Top 13. She has the look and the sass, but she couldn’t pick an appropriate song choice to save her from elimination. If someone told me that they saw me as more of a Diana Ross-type, I’d pick a song that was familiar and have at it. Ashthon needed to pick a song that highlighted her strengths, and ballads just don’t seem to do her any justice, even with her big voice.

Ashthon’s ouster proved even more to me that Robbie Rosen deserved her spot in the Top 13. Robbie totally out-sang her last week. Obviously, I’m a tad bitter about this. It stings just a bit more knowing that Ashthon couldn’t last an additional week in the competition. It also speaks volumes about what this season’s audience wanted versus what the judges wanted. Robbie tweeted Wednesday night that if he had made it through to the Top 13, he was going to be performing Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River.” My instincts tell me that it would have been awesome, so thanks judges, thanks a lot.

With the playing field now leveled, it’s time to see if the females will continue to be picked off one by one. An all-female bottom three in what was boasted as “The season of the females” doesn’t seem like things are going to bode well for them. But you know, time will tell.
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Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part Two

In the first part of my chat with American Idol season 10 Top 24 contestant, Tim Halperin, we touched on the earlier rounds of his Idol journey, from his initial audition in front of the judges in L.A. to making it into the Top 24.

During the final part of my interview with Halperin, we talked about Top 24 from his song selection to the Wild Card round, what he took away from his American Idol experience, and what lies ahead for his music career.

How did you go about selecting your song for Top 24?

I had a list of about five or six songs that I thought would be really good. And the thing that I wanted to do for Top 24 was show off the fact that I wasn’t a one-trick pony; I wasn’t kind of pigeon-holed in one sound. Up until that point, I had really done slower kind of ballad type songs, which is definitely probably one of my strongest types of songs to sing, but there’s also this soulful part of my voice. I love doing soul/pop-rock kind of tunes.

I was looking at Gavin DeGraw, I was looking at John Mayer, and of course that Rob Thomas song. We rehearsed, and felt the Rob Thomas song was just a really good fit for my voice.

Rehearsals went well, I was able to fine-tune it, and I felt like even the on stage rehearsals were going really well. I thought the performance, to be honest with you, went really well. If you notice when you watch the crowd, they really loved it. I thought that it went really well, and the judges thought that it wasn’t my style. Maybe it wasn’t, and I can see where they’re coming from, just because all they’d really heard me perform were ballads. Maybe I should have stuck with that sound for my first round, before I ventured off into something else.

For me, I have no regrets with that song choice. The other thing that was kind of hard to deal with was when Ryan asked Steven what type of song I should have picked and he said John Mayer or Jason Mraz, when in fact, John Mayer co-wrote that song that I sang and played guitar on the track. So that was kind of frustrating to hear.

I felt like all the way through I had good performances. I feel really lucky to have done that.

You play piano, so I am wondering at what point did they tell you that you guys were not going to be using instruments for that first performance?

They told us well in advance, and you know it’s hard, but at the same time I don’t think I would have used the piano even if I was able to. In my mind looking back on it, if I was able to it probably would have been a good thing, because piano kind of set me apart. But, I wanted to show the fact that I wasn’t stuck behind my instrument. A lot of flack that contestants have gotten in the past that play instruments is that they can’t perform without it. I wanted to show that I was very comfortable on stage and very comfortable performing without [playing piano], which I feel like I was able to prove. I thought the performance was for sure really good. Yeah, we knew well in advance that we couldn’t use instruments.

Was it that you couldn’t use it for that one performance or was it a stipulation for the season?

It’s decided on a round by round basis. I’m not even sure what’s going on this time. It’s the same as it’s been in the past, certain rounds people are allowed to use instruments and certain rounds, and certain rounds they’re not.

My thought is just because last season, there were so many people using instruments, and the responses were that they were using them as a crutch. So, my thought is that they probably won’t let people use instruments as much this year.

I was just wondering about that, because we saw a few people that had used instruments in earlier rounds get eliminated last week. And I figured because the last three winners (David Cook, Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze) all fall under that blanket category of singer-songwriter is possibly why Idol seems to be looking for pop star, rather than the singer-songwriter type this season.

Yeah, that could be it. But at the same time, the people in the Top 13 are definitely all extremely talented. Is it hard being a singer-songwriter and not being able to use your instrument? Yeah, you know it is. At the same time, I feel like I got what I wanted out of it. Because I do play an instrument and I have experience, now it’s going to be really easy for me to make the transition back into putting out a record and doing shows again.
Continue reading Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part Two

Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part One

I find that it’s hard to ignore talent. The main reason I continue to watch American Idol after all these years is to see what each season’s crop of talent brings to the table. This season we were introduced to 23-year-old Tim Halperin, a singer-songwriter from Fort Worth, TX. After making it through to Hollywood Week, Halperin moved on next to the Vegas round where he had a stellar, standout performance, which helped take him to through the Top 24.

After falling short of making the Top 13 this past week, Halperin headed home to Omaha, NE to be with his family. He graciously took the time to chat with me over the phone this weekend about his American Idol experience.

I know it’s been only a couple days, but how is post-Idol life treating you?

It’s good. It’s a transition, for sure. It’s crazy going from being on the number one TV show in America to being back in reality. I feel like I’ve had a smooth transition for the most part.

How did you first get your start in music?

I grew up just loving music, started taking piano lessons at six-years-old. In middle school, I started playing with the worship team at church, and then eventually started playing with bands in high school. And when I went off to college at TCU, I had started recording and playing some more shows. Then I graduated from TCU here in May.

Wow, so you’re fresh out of college?

Yeah, timing-wise it was really perfect for Idol to happen.

So, when did you really start working on your songwriting?

It was about during my sophomore year of high school I believe when I wrote my first kind of serious song. It was really slow at first. You know, I’d write a couple here. When I got to college, I just started writing some more. I played a talent show my sophomore year of college, and people were wondering when I was going to release some of the songs that I had written. And I was like, maybe that’s a good idea. Maybe I should do a short CD. I recorded a five track CD and put it up on iTunes by the winter of my sophomore year in college. That led me to keep songwriting.

And songwriting you know, is just like anything else; the more practice you have, the better you get. I feel like I really started figuring out who I was as an artist and who I wanted to be in the last year and a half or so. I started to write a lot more and started to feel where I was headed.

When you’re working on a song, do you start with the lyrics or do you start with the melody first?

I usually start with lyrics first. I’m not the type of person that has you know, two hours every day I’m going to song write. I usually feel just the urge to write. Either I’m going through something personally, emotionally or I’m affected by people around me who are going through something. Or I notice something I never have before, it’s usually kind of an epiphany type thing. But I try and really embrace whenever those moments happen and make time, make space for me to sit down and write.

Where have you been drawing musical inspiration from lately?

I think after I settle down and transition back into my daily life, I’m going to pull a lot of inspiration from the journey I’ve been on with American Idol. It’s funny, the songs I was writing before Idol happened, I had one song called, “Crash Course to Hollywood.” That song was just about me coming to terms with after college I wanted to pursue music and give it a shot for a couple of years. So that’s where that song came from, and of course any kind of relationship that I’ve had. I’m single right now, so it’s kind of been this whole transition out of college is where I’ve been drawing my inspiration lately.

Very cool, now switching gears over to Idol, you tried out in L.A., right?

I did. I actually tried out on MySpace.

That makes a little more sense to me, because when I was looking back at your journey on the show prior to talking to you today, I was wondering why you had tried out in L.A., because you’re not from L.A.

Yeah, that’s funny, because they went through Austin. I actually tried out for Idol three years ago when they went through Omaha. I hadn’t really figured out who I was as an artist, and I hadn’t had as near the amount of performance experience on stage. I was really nervous and the audition didn’t go very well. I was kind of content on not trying out ever again. Someone I respected, who also plays music, called me up and said, ‘Hey, they’re doing MySpace auditions. You might as well send in a webcam video.’

Had you been a fan of the show before trying out?

Was I an Idol fan? Um…no. [laughs] Especially if you play music, and I was booking my own shows and recording my record, you kind of look at that show and go, ‘That’s not fair. Those people are getting all this free exposure,’ and here I am working my tail off.

I never really watched [the show]. I wasn’t the biggest Idol fan. But now after going through it, it’s so legit. The people that they have working with you are incredible.
Continue reading Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part One

Idol Wired >> The Top 12 Guys Kick Off the Semifinals

I have to be honest, the Top 12 guys made me fairly excited for this season of American Idol. After the show ended tonight, I felt better about this show than I have all season long.

The guys, who pre-taped their performances on February 25, brought a lot to the main stage, including big stage jitters and every so often, some talent.

Up first was the Hollywood round bad boy himself, Clint Jun Gamboa. Gamboa chose to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” This song needs to locked away with Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” and Elton John’s “Dont’ Let The Sun Go Down on Me,” and never be allowed to be performed on Idol again. “Superstition” has not done any favors for contestants in the past couple seasons.

Gamboa’s vocals were nothing special. At this point of the competition, the contestants should be showing the audience why the judges picked them. I think Gamboa failed to prove the judges’ point with his performance. Of course, based on their praise of his performance, one had to wonder what concoction had been mixed in their Coca Cola cups.

Gamboa picked an overused song that I believe will send both him and his Harry Potter eyewear packing. He will be the boy who didn’t live to see the finals.

Next up was Jovany Barreto, who performed Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be.” For someone who exudes so much personality on his Twitter account, this was such a boring song selection.

I must say for the most part Barreto had an okay vocal; I did really like his final note. He was met with a divided judges’ panel. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez loved him, whereas I sided with Randy Jackson, who found the song to be “karaoke.”

I am not entirely sure what possessed Jordan Dorsey to pick one of the most obnoxious and auto-tuned songs to sing in the semifinals. His performance of Usher’s “OMG” made me just cringe. From his vocals to his outfit, OMG indeed.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The Top 12 Guys Kick Off the Semifinals

Music Review >> Adele – ’21’

After listening to Adele’s latest album 21, my first instinct was to stand up and give the album a standing ovation. I don’t think I’ve ever had an album resonate so deeply with me after a first listen.

Adele had quite the hit song on her hands with “Chasing Pavements.” The song was a part of her acclaimed debut album, 19, which led Adele to winning two Grammys, including Best New Artist in 2009.

Adele began working on her new album, 21, while she was on tour in the United States promoting 19. Her tour-bus driver turned her on to “amazing country and blues and rockabilly and bluegrass and gospel” music while on the road. After being introduced to the music of Wanda Jackson, Adele said in a press release that it had a “massive effect, couldn’t help it, it rubbed off on me.”

21, which addresses love, heartbreak and everything in between was inspired from the singer-songwriter’s own love life. Adele said, “I had the most poignant relationship in between these two records. I met him and he was brilliant; it was a really great relationship and it went sour obviously, because I made a bitchy record about him.”

Adele worked with some amazing collaborators on the album, including One Republic’s Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth, Dan Wilson, Fraser T. Smith, Greg Wells, and Francis “Eg” White. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and Paul Epworth.

It opens with lead single, “Rolling In The Deep.” Described by Adele as “a dark bluesy gospel disco tune,” the song talks about looking back on love and what could have been. I remember the first time I heard it, and I couldn’t believe it was Adele. I knew it was her voice, but the tempo and the melody were so different than anything I had heard her sing before. This song really shows some personality, which was a goal of hers.

“I think I come across moody and serious with my music,” she said, “but, in real life, I’m sarcastic and very cheeky. I really wanted at least one song on this album that was representative of me as a girl, as a person. I don’t think the playful me came across on the first album. It’s important to show growth and development.”

I really think she his this effort on the head with “Rumor Has It.” It has attitude and has a cheekiness to it, which makes it a fun listen. Other standout tracks include “Turning Tables,” “He Won’t Go,” and “Someone Like You.”
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Idol Wired >> The Top 24 Are Revealed!

Finally, we have 24 contestants moving onto the American Idol semifinals. We’re making progress, everyone! Of course, getting to this point meant sitting through four of the longest hours of my life to find out officially which contestants had made the Top 24.

To be honest (and this might be an unpopular opinion), I thought that first hour of Idol Wednesday night during the Las Vegas round was a huge waste of time. I didn’t care to watch group rounds again, and more than that, I don’t care to hear songs of The Beatles being sung by people other than The Beatles.

This episode we got to see Idol’s in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine sit in on some of the rehearsals, and oh my, I think he’s definitely going to be a presence when it comes to contestants working on their songs. He just got straight to the point and held nothing back. He wasn’t sugarcoating anything or sparing anyone’s feelings. His involvement on the show this season is going to be interesting.

The only two performances from Vegas Cirque du Soleil LOVE stage that I cared for were from Tim Halperin and Julie Zorrilla who performed “Something” and Paul McDonald and Kendra Chantrelle who performed “Blackbird.”

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, I am definitely a fan of Halperin’s voice. His vocals paired wonderfully with Zorrilla’s.

I also really like McDonald’s voice. There’s a James Morrison meets Rod Stewart vibe going on there, and I dig it.

The second hour of Idol Wednesday night was dedicated to revealing a portion of the Top 24. This hour and the two hours on Thursday night were so long, I felt like lifetimes were passing by as the show slowly revealed the Top 24.

The contestants got to perform one more final song, and then they walked down the ridiculously long walkway to sit with the judges to find out if they were in or out.
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