(10-02-2012, 07:19 PM)Tom22 Wrote: I wouldn't knock Crystal Bowersox in the least. IMO her voice is aptly "crystal clear" and pleasing too, and more importantly, every she sung every song with her whole heart and mind into the tale in the lyrics....
Crystal definitely had 3 or 4 covers of legendary songs where I'd listen to her cover before(or equally) to any other version of those songs... and a few others very very close. Her "up to the mountain" brings me to tears with chills every time I hear it. No sense playing the which artist is better than the other game...but gotta stand up for CB for the "blown away" part.
Both very special even if I almost always prefer present and foward looking songs than back looking songs these days (and Haley is so about the now and/or forward looking!) End derail.
Tom, I don't knock Crystal in the least, and, for her sake, I sometimes think it's a blessing that Haley didn't make it that year. Crystal is an extraordinary talent, with a painful, but extraordinary history. "Up to the Mountain" is not a song that I find musically worthwhile -- I guess that one's all about the message, and since I'm mostly interested in "musically" interesting, and there is absolutely nothing "musically" interesting to me about that song, I just can't connect. (It's message is too blatant and, thus, drives me away. Frankly, I think it's musically worthless.)
But Crystal performed a good many tunes on AI that I appreciated: she made Lee DeWyze sound good on "Falling Slowly" (think about that!); "People Get Ready" was amazing; I loved her "Midnight Train to Georgia."
Crystal writes wonderful songs -- and Crystal writes them on her own.
But what I really love about Crystal is, with the exception of "Farmer's Daughter," which was cathartic for her but I don't like the song, I love the songs she writes. "Mama" which, I've seen, was pre-"Farmer's Daughter" is exquisitely, heart rendingly beautiful.
So, ultimately, Haley and Crystal should not be compared to one another.
