>>
Site Map
>>
News
NO LOSERS
#450 - 1--Idolista--NO LOSERS--2008-05-21 00:00:00
#And there you have it -- another season in the can. - David Cook appears to be an intelligent young man. And as such, he has clearly been aware that the PTB of Idol had hand-picked this season’s winner early on in the competition….and that it wasn’t him. It has to have been a temptation for him, when preparing for this week’s finale, to pick a strategy designed to ‘out-Archuleta” David Archuleta. David C has a surprisingly large vocal range and far more control than most would-be rockers can lay claim to. He’s shown us that he can deliver a ballad, when needed, and possesses the emotional connection to what he’s singing that can get an audience firmly behind him. David C could have given Arch a run for his money. And yet, he went another way. In his own words, at the inception of the show, he said ‘this is no longer a contest’ and everything about his body language and his performances backed up that statement.
As fans, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. We got three performances that showed us (if we had any doubt by now) exactly what David C would do as a professional performer. We saw it, and it was good. Pop star stuff? Not necessarily. Alt rocker stuff? Definitely.
Taking nothing away from Arch, who was flat out marvelous last night, the fact remains that the judges’ decided bias toward him tainted the finale for me. The singing from both contestants was top notch – everything I could have hoped it would be – but the fawning over Arch as the ‘heir apparent’ juxtaposed against the faint praise offered David C. insulted me as a listener. And the anger and hurt you couldn’t possibly fail to see in David C’s eyes, and the way his body closed up (crossed arms, indirect glances at the judges and audience, even the tears in his eyes as he finished his final performance) as they belittled his efforst made me angry. David C gave us everything he had last night and had it handed back to him along with his hat by the judges. For once Paula, who gave uniformly pleasant comments to both contestants, acted as the voice of reason on the judging panel. Whoever thought we’d live to see that?
I fully expected Arch to win this contest – and I have done so since the first few weeks. And I think that is what will, and possibly should, happen. Certainly by now, the PTB at Idol are making all sorts of future sales and marketing plans based on their belief that it will be Arch that they are promoting. And so they have a large stake in the outcome, that’s a certainty. But why make it so glaringly obvious?
I guess that concludes the rant portion of this article. I really did enjoy all six of last night’s performances (even of the ultra-cheesified original songs) so I will let go of the smelly taint of commercialism and concentrate on the music, even if the judges wouldn’t.
Clive Davis did a far better job at choosing songs for the contestants last night than he has done in prior years. I had been cringing at the thought of what he’d come up with after the horrific producers’ choices the week before. David C’s version of “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was very well sung, retaining the flavor of the U2 original, but still quintessentially David C. Had I heard this on the radio without an introduction, I still would have recognized the singer from his particular style. Since this was the first song and the judges hadn’t sent Maxwell’s Silver Hammer down upon his head quite yet, he sang with authority, conviction and command – of the song, the audience, the stage and even the backing band. David looked comfortable on a night when butterflies would cripple most of us. He belongs on stage making music and he knows it.
It’s been a few years now since Clay Aiken brought the house down with “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, but I’m betting dollars to donuts that no long-term fan of this show has forgotten it. I worried for Arch that he wouldn’t be able to differentiate himself from Clay’s performance – in the minds of those of us over 14, anyway – but he proved me wrong. Arch clearly felt this song deeply. He gave us something on this finale night that some of his prior weeks’ performances had been lacking – passion. It’s difficult when you’re only 17 to internalize the feelings and experiences of mature songwriters and to connect with what they have to say. But in this case, Arch was 17 going on 37. Was it perfect? No. I noticed a few flaws along the way and even a pitchy moment or two, but it just didn’t matter. He sang from his heart and there wasn’t a one amongst us who couldn’t recognize it. The outcome of this year’s finale is going to be based at least partly on desire. People aren’t fools, they can look at a contestant and see how much (or how little, Jason Castro) the contestant wants the victory. Arch came out of the gate stating his case loud and strong.
I swear there is a factory hidden deep in mittelamerika that churns out cheesy Idol songs for this program. Each of them must contain at least 100 uses of the words “moment” “believe” “dream”, “soar”, etc. It’s like musical variations on a theme…only Bach did it much much better. If at any point they’d like to stop trotting out these trite pieces, I for one would stand up and cheer. I’m not suggesting they hire rappers to write the winner’s piece, but something a lil bit rockin’ would surely not hurt.
God bless David C. for taking one of these pieces of dreck and rocking it out to the best of his ability. I do agree with Randy’s statement that he ‘sang his face off’. He truly did. For something that wasn’t his cup of tea, he picked up the tempo and made it something you could listen to. Perhaps he’ll have a crossover Christian rock hit with this one. And no, I’m not kidding, if you set aside the religiosity of the lyrics, some of the those Christian bands can really rock. I didn’t particularly like the song, but I didn’t run screaming from the room as I usually do when the winner’s song is performed.
Arch, of course, was in his element with this type of music. While I’m on the subject of Christian music, I honestly believe that this is where Arch’s future lies. Once idol is done milking the Archuleta cow, he should search for a stable in the Christian music industry. Arch is never more sincere and connected to a song than when it has an inspirational element to it. I think this genre of music would not only make Arch’s fans happy, but Arch himself. Making beautiful music unto the Lord seems like it fits him like a glove.
I happen to love Collective Soul. I have everything they’ve ever recorded and even some live bootlegs from concerts (sssh, don’t tell) and I was swept away by David C’s performance of “The World I Know”. He was so deeply into that song that it took him a couple of moments to come back to reality after he finished performing. That, gentle readers, is the mark of a musician who is really connected to his music. It’s just that sort of moment that musicians were chasing through the artificial means of recreational drugs. It’s a far better high than any pharmaceutical out there, trust me. For me, personally, this was the highlight of the evening. And….(dramatic pause)….it was something NEW.
Yes, I’ve heard that Arch performed “Imagine” again because his original song choice wasn’t cleared, but it still took away from my enjoyment of the evening that he provided us with a retread. I loved this performance the first time and I loved it last night. But I loved it less.
If you take away the judges’ quashing of David C’s hopes throughout the evening and the relentless promotion of every peep that came out of Arch’s mouth, I thought the music was superb. There was not a thing wrong with any of these six performances. They could arguably be among the Top 20 all time idol performance – all six of them!
I think America will follow the unmistakable lead of the Idol organization and give Arch the crown. And I think, when the dust settles, that David C. will realize that this is a good thing for him, careerwise. But if it falls the other way, I won’t be one bit unhappy. There are NO LOSERS in this finale.
Idolista, in Denver with her head in the clouds
--comments-->0--1394--5
