Naima is a sweetheart. Got this message back from her after Casey's gig that she drove down from Milwaukee for:
Naima Adedapo
1/6, 3:59pm
Naima Adedapo
Thank you for your kind words Steve! I rarely check the messages on this page because for some reason most of them tend to be in foreign languages, but your note caught my eye. I appreciate you.

I would like to meet Naima someday, she's one of those people, you can tell she's a warm/caring person, even through the TV or photos

Quote:Jacob Lusk ‏@Jacob_Lusk 2h2 hours ago
Haley Reinhart was robbed again #GrammysIn5Words

I remember Steven Tyler absolutely loving Naima. (He once said his top 3 would have been Haley, Casey and Naima. I like Steven.)

She was one of the most interesting, and unqiue contestants (frankly entertaining) that the show has ever had. But she was probably just too different for Idol. And she didn't have Haley's ability to be what Idol wants.

Her Achilles heel was she wasn't the strongest singer in the top 13 of a singing competition, so she tried to enhance her performance in other ways (african dancing, Jamaican accent) which ended up affecting the singing qualities that she did have because she hadn't learned breath control well enough to pull it off.

She was probably the most daring of the 13, even more than Casey, as far as stretching the limits of what Idol wanted in their 'star'.

Like Haley, I think Naima wasn't as concerned about winning the whole thing as she was about gaining experience and exposure from the opportunity, so she did what she could to stand out and at least be entertaining.

Bottom line, she's taken advantage of the break being on Idol has given her and able to give her family a better life than the one she had Pre Idol

My biggest surprise of how amazed I was at a performance during the tour was what Naima created on stage:

I really felt I got more than my money's worth from Naima!...especially at the Meet & Greets and how she talked to you like you were her best friend! Naima converted a worthless Jennifer Lopez song into something that was really great! Much like Haley does when she takes an original and makes it "Better". You can even hear my Captain Dinkins yell at the end!

John, thanks for uploading that video. That's a good song for Naima, meaning that it gives her room to flex her vocal abilities, but has a terrific dance groove for both her and her audience.

I appreciated the various comments above regarding Naima and actually agree with all of them/you. Naima first caught my attention when she didn't do a standard treatment of Summertime, a song that has been long butchered. (Please don't get me wrong -- I'm in awe of most of the Gershwin brothers catalog, but not of every rendition of every thing that they wrote. This song is, sadly, performed far too frequently, and rarely well. I'm all for a good variation of it, including Naima's performance -- and the jazz waltz version of it that has been in my head for many, many years [no, none of you have heard that], but those don't happen often).

By that point, Naima had made an impression visually (exotic) as well as aurally, and given that the visual representation was always to stand out, in some way, once Naima progressed to the final 24 (or whatever it was that year), I suspect that AI production may have had something/much to do with perpetuating her "exotic-ness," which Tusk recognized to be her Achilles heel.

But she's such a beautiful woman -- those eyes; that long, lithe body; her ability to sing while she's moving that long, lithe body; and that on top of that, she's a sweetheart just pleases me to no end. I wish her the best.

I'm sure all you Haliens have heard this before, but I need to showcase this one again. Haley's studio version of "Earth Song". One of the best in Idol history. The voice, the passion, the sound and arrangement.
I think this really shows what a superb talent she really is. I was watching the top 12 girls on Idol last night and it made me appreciate
Haley's talent that much more. For those who haven't heard this, turn up your speakers and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5APBFMhFpxE

Agreed Ronzoni.

I am not sure if this was posted somewhere here or not. http://www.thebacklot.com/the-8-most-und...s/01/2013/ Not sure if Von Smith should be number 1 but Haley and Pia made the list. I didn't watch Idol other than season 10 so I guess I can't really comment....

(03-16-2015, 02:13 PM)riley Wrote: I am not sure if this was posted somewhere here or not. http://www.thebacklot.com/the-8-most-und...s/01/2013/

^^^ Pages sometimes attach text when you copy the link, that's why your link doesn't work,

Quote:

7. Haley Reinhart, “What Is and What Should Never Be” (season 10)

Haley Reinhart is one of the few Idol contestants who seemed utterly bland during her initial weeks on the show, gurgling through overplayed schlock like Alicia Keys‘ “Fallin'” and LeAnn Rimes‘ “Blue,” before becoming a righteous vixen who slayed with unusual selections like “Rolling in the Deep” (a very new song at the time) and “Rhiannon.” Her best work may be this lengthy, unexpected version of Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be.” She’s bluesy, brassy, and even after she trips in her kickass heels, a consummate performer. No Idol performance compares to this sprawling beast.

PS... notice the 2 videos that don't work in the article are Zeppelin songs. Zep is pretty hard on videos posted to Youtube, not as bad as the Eagles or Supertramp, but I sometimes fear they'll go after my Haley WIAWSNB vids