S10

[Miguel]

Here's a compilation of excerpts from a 2011 EW feature called "'American Idol' behind the scenes: 'Idol' coaches talk the Top XX"

TOP 12

HALEY REINHART — “I’m Your Baby Tonight” (Whitney Houston)

DB: The judges talked about, “Who are you? You did country last week.” But she’s many things. We’re not just one thing, and it becomes frustrating because when you’re on a TV show like this, you want to show everything you can do, and the record industry wants to put you in a lane — in one slot. So I applaud her for being courageous enough to do that.

She didn’t have vocal problems, but her voice got tired. Just before the show, I went upstairs and said, “It’s okay. You sound fine. You only have to do this one more time — a minute and 40 seconds.” When your voice is not at a high percentage, you start doubting everything, and I did have to pull her back from a doubting moment just before she performed.

TOP 11

HALEY REINHART — “You Really Got a Hold on Me” (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)

DB: I’m proud of her. I think she’s making huge leaps and bounds. She’s growing greatly. She’s taking to heart what the judges say to her, which is extraordinary. The extraordinary part of it is that she can sing anything. And being on American Idol, because they’re looking for the next new thing, they want to find a lane for her. Today, she clearly found her lane — it’s the bluesy lane. She does that very well in her youngness and her youth and her look and her vibe. She’s comfortable there. But the fact that she can sing a lot of things is not a terrible situation to be in. She’s been very smart about being on American Idol, and I applaud her for that. She did, she delievered, she sang. This is all part of her growth.  https://ew.com/article/2011/03/24/americ...1-coaches/

TOP 10

HALEY REINHART — “Benny and the Jets”

DB: This is one of those things, on this TV show, season in and season out, you hear “song choice, song choice, song choice.” It paid off for her [this week] big time. “Benny and the Jets” is one of the coolest tunes that Elton John has ever recorded. It’s got the coolest groove, and the fact that that young woman made it work — the female energy of it all — I think is extraordinary. She got it, she knew what she wanted to do, and she was able to stretch out in it and made it thriller. The fact that after having a whole show of melancholy and wistfulness, here she comes slamming this song. She couldn’t lose.

TOP 9

HALEY REINHART — “Piece of My Heart” (Janis Joplin cover of Erma Franklin)

DB: She wanted to do another song, but it wasn’t eligible. So we went for a song that was close to it, and that became “Piece of My Heart.” She said, “Well, they said they want to hear Joplin, I’ll give them that.” It happened with Ashthon Jones, when they said, “You’re like Diana Ross,” so she sang Diana Ross. It happens because [the singers] don’t want to be disrespectful. It really is that simple.

TOP 8

HALEY REINHART — “Call Me” (Blondie, American Gigolo)

DB: Haley just learned a huge lesson. She and I just talked about it. You saw a lot of discrepancies this week, in terms of what people were choosing to sing. She admits that it wasn’t her first choice, and she’s feeling stung by it, if I may use that word. And a little stunned. The lesson she learned is that she has to stick to her guns and trust and believe.

The thing that shocked me was that, after she finished singing and the judges made their remarks, I went to her and she said, “Byrd, I knew.” I said, “You knew what?” “I knew I should have changed my song.” I said, “Haley, honey! Well, you learned a lesson.” The lesson is: Go with your gut. I can’t tell you what the other song was, because she might sing it another time. She actually chose the song two weeks ago, and it wasn’t eligible. Then it came up again, and she was so excited to sing it. It was discussed, and then she was like, “Okay, let me try this other song.” And that’s the lesson that she learned.

I hope she survives it. It’s what the judges said: She killed the last two weeks. Like Jimmy Iovine said, she had a slow start, but when she hit “Bennie and the Jets” and last week, she was in full motion. She looked magnificent, she sang it great, but I was stunned when she said, “I knew I should have picked the other song…” I didn’t chastise her. I just said, “You just learned a huge lesson.”

We learn lessons two ways: the easy way and the hard way. And I think she learned this one the hard way. It puts hair on your chest, it makes you stronger. It won’t kill her. I have to honestly say to you, after she said that, I said, “What are you choosing for next week?” She said, “No.” And I said, “Start thinking of your song for next week right now! Because it’s going to start all over again.”

TOP 7

HALEY REINHART - "Rolling in the Deep" (Adele)

DEBRA BYRD: After she made her decision to sing [this song], she was very positive that that’s what she wanted to do. It’s a risky choice. It sounded very good on her. She wore the song well. It was a bit of a process for her to bring a strength to it. We had conversations about the strength of the song; not her vocal, because she’s got a strong vocal. She proved that on “Bennie and the Jets.” But I wanted to talk with her about the strength of being a woman. Her approach to it was a little too nice. I said, “That’s because you’ve got Adele’s video [for the song] stuck in your consciousness.” Adele just sits in profile and sings. I said, “I want you to dump Adele’s video and bring some fire into the first line.” And she got there.

[Singing it behind the judges] was a staging decision. She said, [shrugs a bit] “Okay.” It’s a different look, and we’re always looking for different looks on the show, between the executive producers and Debbie Williams [the stage manage], and the director. It becomes how to make the show more interesting.

TOP 6

HALEY REINHART — “Beautiful”

DB: I was concerned about this song, but [Babyface] added a great element to it in contrasting the two sections — the driving section on the choruses and then the [Byrd sings softly] verses. To pull down the verses made a huge difference, because she was just hammering everything [at first]. Making that contrast was his suggestion, and as soon as he did that in the mentoring session, it clicked in for me. It made the song come alive for her performance. And she knew she wanted to do that song. She loved it. Unlike Jacob, who had such a hard time finding [a song].

TOP 5

HALEY REINHART — “You And I” (Lady Gaga)

DB: We love Gaga. Now, I want you to know that Haley was sweating bullets over this. She was having such a hard time with this decision, of singing this song. We talked about it. We went over and over it. I had to speak to her about courage and bravery because she picked this song and then she doubted it. “Oh, the judges are gonna hate it!” she’d say. I said, “I’m really into making history on this television show.” We’ve had many historic moments on American Idol. And I said, “Let’s create history. Whenever those seeds of doubt creep in about your song choice, I would like you to remember you’re making history by singing an unreleased song by Lady Gaga.”

And she was really worried about Lady Gaga’s response. She said, “Oh my goodness, I don’t want her to hate me.” That is the phrase she used — “I don’t want her to hate me for singing this song.” She made Jimmy promise, “Please let her know.” Once she got over one hurdle and spoke with Gaga, then she felt better. Then she doubted it again. I said, “Haley, you’re a very good singer. You perform it very, very well. You must believe it. You’ve got her blessing! You know what to do.” And she thanked me. She said, “I like hearing your voice in my ear before I go on. I need to hear that before I go on stage.” I’m so glad I can buoy her up and encourage her as she goes on stage.

Did she do what she intended to do? I’d like to think, yes, she did. There have been other contestants this season where the judges didn’t know the song and they eventually liked it. It happened with Scotty. It takes a lot of courage for the contestants to sing a relatively unknown song. https://ew.com/article/2011/05/05/americ...5-coaches/

TOP 4

HALEY REINHART — “Earth Song” (Michael Jackson)

DEBRA BYRD: She wanted the choir, because it’s a big song and she thought three back up singers would not give her the feel that she would like — the subject matter is weighty, she knew that she needed extra voices. I have to laugh [about Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez’s criticisms]. I sing a song about what inspires [me], and you say that song isn’t right for [me]. That’s just a bit odd. But hey, that’s the whole thing about this TV show — it’s all subjective. The interpretation I take from that is the judges see her in a specific light and they didn’t see her in that light. That’s what I got out of it.

It’s tough, especially when there are four [contestants], and you sing your face off, and you’re the one that’s told, “Ehh, everybody was great except you.” Her skin is getting tougher, and I have to say we have a lot of talks about this. It’s a learning process for her as it would be for anyone who’s going through that kind of thing. It’s not like she folds and crumbles. It becomes a fighter’s mentality and I applaud for her it. Because you either do that or you die. Those are your choices. And she has no plans of dying on the vine.

HALEY REINHART — “I (Who Have Nothing)”

DB: She wanted to sing it, period. It wasn’t hard for her [to choose a song]. She said, “That song,” immediately. She said, “I know Jordin [Sparks] sang it, and I know she did a great job.” And I said, “And that’s all you have to do. You’re totally different seasons, your voices are different, and it’s the Leiber & Stoller catalogue and that’s one of their wonderful songs so somebody’s going to sing that song.”

In past seasons, when a mentor comes through, there’s so much information that’s given to the contestants, they don’t remember a lot of it. So I like to reinforce what the mentor says, because a lot of times the mentor reinforces what I say. I reminded Haley that Lady Gaga said, “I’d like you to sing this song as if you’re psycho.” It made perfect sense. That means it doesn’t become lyrical and romantic, which is where Haley leans. When she first came to American Idol, she was leaning toward the romantic side of her phrasing, the romantic side of her song choices. And for Lady Gaga to give her that advice was pure gold. Golden. So that means we worked on her phrasing, as opposed to being very romantic. [Sings fluidly] “I, who have noooothiiing.” [Sings haltingly] “I [pause] who have [pause] nothing.” Something that simple. Spaces in it as opposed to making it so romantic. Haunting. It’s that love that’s lost. https://ew.com/article/2011/05/12/americ...exclusive/  

TOP 3

HALEY REINHART — “What Is and What Should Never Be” (Led Zeppelin)

DB: She’s been wanting to do this song for a while, and Led Zeppelin does not clear [songs] on American Idol, except one time for Adam Lambert. There are certain artists that we know won’t clear their songs for Idol. It’s just that simple. But at this stage of the competition, we decided to take another shot. It happens on every season, like with Adam — he’s been on the show a while and people have seen him, people have seen Haley. The music supervisor, Robin Kaye, sent Robert Plant and Jimmy Page a clip of Haley singing and they said, “Yes, absolutely, we’d love for her to sing our song.” And that meant a lot to her. She was very honored because she really wanted that song. I was a little concerned because it’s not super-duper well known, but I thought that’s her fearlessness that the judges talk about. She took a huge risk and she said, “I know this song will work.”

She’s [played] it with her family before and said, “I would love it if my dad could play on this song — my dad can rip on this tune.” Haley made history by having her dad play on her song. That’s never been done on Idol before. There was a fairness issue. I think the counterbalance was that Ryan Seacrest spoke with Lauren’s mom and Scotty’s dad so that they all got equal face time.

Haley mentioned [asking her dad to play] to me last week, but because of her hometown tour and all this other stuff swirling around, it just went by her and I think she gave up [on having her dad play]. I asked her on Tuesday and she said, “It’s too late to ask.” And I said, “No, it’s not.” Her parents were coming anyway — they were on their way here. They flew in yesterday! Haley’s dad barely made dress rehearsal at 2:45 p.m. [or about two hours before the show went live]. And he played some great stuff. When you listen back to it, because when she’s at the top of the stairs you don’t realize that’s her dad playing the riffs in between — he played some tasty stuff.

[Regarding Haley’s fall] I love the fact that she did not miss a note, she did not miss a beat, and she just kept rolling. When you have a mishap you just keep going.

HALEY REINHART — “Rhiannon” (Fleetwood Mac)

DB: You can’t scream and growl your way through everything. It was an interesting choice for her. It was one of the songs that was on her list a while ago. The fact that it became a choice from Jimmy, it was like easy peasy. I applaud Jimmy because it gave us a chance to pull it down. I’ve heard people say they don’t like her growling all the time. I think it showcased her very well — she has a softer side and she doesn’t have to rip every single song she sings. It took her a minute, but she found it because the song’s a bit abstract. She and I had these discussions about what the song means. We had to get inside the lyrics, and then she was all for it.

HALEY REINHART — “You Oughta Know” (Alanis Morissette)

DB: My only concern was that she didn’t sound like an Alanis clone. During rehearsal I said, “You must bring me a bit more Haley-isms,” and she did, just enough. Alanis has a lot of yodeling. It’s very deliberate, Alanis’s vocal. In rehearsal Haley can sing all that stuff because she did sing “Blue,” where she yodeled earlier on. And I said, “You don’t have to bring as much yodel as Alanis does. They want to see how you hear yourself as an artist, so bring that.” A little sidebar: Carrie Underwood was always looking for a week where she could yodel. It makes me smile when I hear Haley do it because I remember Carrie looking every week, and she just didn’t get around to it. https://ew.com/article/2011/05/19/americ...3-coaches/