^^On the message board of Mr. Slezak's TV-Line recaps, I've been a little surprised to see how many people find the group competing this year as "boring." There's quite a bit of real talent in a handful of people, even if I don't actually like what a few of them do. It would seem that more of the AI audience really does prefer "being entertained" rather than actually appreciating good musicianship, which doesn't surprise, but completely dismays me.
Mercfan, I agree with you about the pure, pretty voices of both Sam and MK, but for me it goes beyond just "pure, pretty voices" to a deep appreciation of the simplicity of their performances: they do this because they love music, and they want
the music to shine through their performances, not
their personalities, but
the music that they love. To me, it's clear in the song choices they make and the way that they perform. I find them both so refreshing and I adore them both! That said MK needs to ditch the stupid baseball cap turned backwards, and both need to overcome nerves/shyness/whatever (or learn how to not let that show) and learn to connect more with the audience. And, believe me, I truly do
know how hard it is to connect if one is shy.
I adore Majesty Rose as well! Another individual whose performances I have found completely refreshing. And, Mercfan, I suspect that you are correct and in May, Sam will be crowned the new American Idol. But I really want Majesty to give him a run for his money -- and I think she's capable of doing so.
I can appreciate Alex's instrumental musicianship. In that respect, he may be like Casey Abrams. However, I don't want to hear the guy (Alex) sing. I find neither his voice nor his stylistic preferences remotely pleasant. But again, I do recognize that he knows what he's doing when an instrument is in his hands.
Jessica Meuse puts me in an unusual place. I don't like her preferred musical genre at all and there's little, if anything about her voice, specifically her vibrato, that I like. But I'm touched by her NoWhereVille background and her attitude that whether she's a "broke or making it" musician, she's going to be a musician. And thus, I hope she stays long enough to develop a following that can and will support her so that she can pursue that music career.
I think both Emily and Malaya would have benefited by waiting a year or two (or more for Malaya). Neither one seems to know how to really connect/sell the songs they've chosen to sing. Neither seem to be selecting songs that are necessarily what they should be doing. This week, Malaya mentioned that she "plays a lot of instruments." That is impressive only if one excels on at least one of them and/or has such a deep musical understanding that one knows how that translates to other instruments (remember the old saying "jack of all trades, master of none"?). I grew up knowing such a person. Casey Abrams is another example, and, I suspect, that Alex Preston may be another. I'm doubtful that Malaya is there yet -- if she ever will be. While Malaya's energy is a kick, musically she's not where she needs to be to be on AI at this point. But she's just so cute.
I'm completely on the fence about Jena. I did like her performance of the song that she'd written. (But, of course, without any other reference point, if you like the song, then you'll like the performance/performer.) But i'm not impressed with her other performances enough to want her to go far. And I'm in complete agreement with many on Mr. Slezak's message board that her current vocal technique could do damage to her vocal chords. She really needs to "say something" musically soon or I will "give up on her."
That leaves the "country boys" and Caleb. With the exception of how uncomfortable I find it that CJ "teaches" guitar (I've read that somewhere), which just hurts, I have no comment -- well, with the qualifier that I hope all of them will be quickly dismissed (through votes). But they're country, so how likely is that?
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