From the Archives: Season 6 Tony Bennett Week

A number of my posts from Season 6 had references to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, since I was a playa in the office pool and doing rather well despite not knowing anything about college basketball except that it is basketball played by college kids. Since my tournament discussions would be difficult to understand without all the other posts on that subject (let's fact it, you had to be there, man) I've been deleting them from these recaps where it is easy to do so, but you'll still see some of them still embedded in every once in a while.

I was nice to Tony Bennett because he is, well, Tony Bennett. It's hard to trash a legend. But as you'll see in my next post I more than made up for it when I went after the mentor on the following week's show.

From April 3, 2007

This week Tony Bennett was handing out advice to the youngsters, who picked songs from The Great American Songbook. I only capitalize that since I've always see it capitalized, even though I've never actually seen this book. Last season's kids had Barry Manilow teach them how to sing these songs, and now they're probably sitting at home all jealous now that this year's group got Bennett, except perhaps for Chris Daughtry who is too busy counting his millions.

Speaking of last year and singers named Bennett, anyone else noticed that 5th place finisher Paris Bennett has all but disappeared? Everyone else from last season is putting out albums or appearing on TV shows but there's been nothing from Paris. Just thought I'd ask.

So how did today's kids do with songs their great-grandparents listened too? Let's join my Mom and find out.

Blake: sang "Mack The Knife"
For the first time in this competition Blake sang a song straight without trying to shoehorn it into his "style" and did a surprisingly good job with it. Also surprising was that the judges didn't bash him for not being "fresh", as they seem to like it when he modifies a song. God knows why. Tonight was the first time Randy Jackson used the word "pitchy", which I've only been saying about him since his audition. Still, for someone whose vocals haven't been all that impressive so far he did a good job.

Phil: sang "Night & Day"
He was more pitchy than Blake, another first. He also had a hard time finding the rhythm to the song. Simon & Randy thought it sounded like a funeral dirge, which is a little harsh but not too far off the mark. It certainly didn't sound romantic and smooth. At least once each week Paula Abdul says something that leads people to suspect that she's drunk. Tonight Phil was the lucky recipient of this comment from Paula: "You remind me of Frank Sinatra." Even Randy did a double take to that.

Melinda: sang "I Got Rhythm"



How good is this woman's vocals? This song had not one but two rhythm changes and she aced both of them. Want more proof? Simon complained that he can't find anything to criticize her about. She is clearly in a vocal class by herself and if this is a "singing competition" as Simon keeps claiming it is it would be a crime if she lost. 4 weeks now and she hasn't slipped yet. Even Tony Bennett thinks she's the best singer on the show.

Chris: sang "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"
He wore a strange ensemble, a grey vest complete with a fedora, very apropos given the theme, but his bottom half consisted of torn jeans and sneakers. These kids today... He struggled with the rhythm but his performance had a lot of energy to it. Following the wonder girl isn't easy but he did OK for himself. For once I couldn't picture Justin Timberlake while listening to him sing, which might actually hurt his chances.

Jordin: "On A Clear Day"
Tony Bennett said that Jordin "sang in tune, which is really rare these days." So he really has been watching the show. This girl is really good. Lots of energy, spark, and emotion. She's really learned to keep her emotions under control as the competition has gone on. If there is anyone who can challenge Melinda for the title it's this teenager. Again Simon had to work really hard to find something negative to say.

Gina: "Smile"
It was probably her best vocal performance. That's the good news. The bad news is that it was in a song style that was the same as Melinda and Jordin and she just can't compete with that. She's better off being the rocker chick, which is hard to do with these types of songs. Chris Daughtry had the same problem, which is what eventually doomed him.

Sanjaya: "Cheek to Cheek"
Pretty much everybody now has figured out that Sanjaya's vocal ability is so much worse than everyone else's that the judges are not even bothering to comment on that anymore. Yes, even Paula. Still, his performance, as weak as it was vocally, was still entertaining and had a lot of style. He even pulled out a Taylor Hicks move and danced with Paula. He's still essentially a circus clown, but at least he didn't embarrass himself this week.

Haley: "Ain't Misbehavin'"
Pretty much the same thing we see from Haley every week. Listless vocal, great legs. Simon finally acknowledged what every man in the audience already noticed (the judges had a lot of revelations this week: Blake is pitchy, Sanjaya can't sing, Haley has nice legs, & Randy thinks Paula is drunk, just what was in those Coke glasses?). Haley opted for a sleeveless dress with a little bit lower cut than what we've seen her wear before. I'm starting to like this girl even though she has no chance of winning. I've written 4 reviews of her so far and I think in total I've only used 2 or 3 sentences to talk about her singing.

LaKesha: "Stormy Weather"
You may have heard this before, "slow start, big finish." I do love how she pours on the emotion, this week more than most others. You get the sense that she really feels the song, especially when she pulls out that Force of Nature voice of hers like she did this week. I would have liked to have heard her sing Bennett's signature tune "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", she's probably the only one who could have pulled it off.

Your 3 Stars of Tonight's Game: You may have heard this before too, Melinda, Jordin, and LaKesha. A shout out to Blake, though, for finally showing that he can actually sing without being Mr. Fresh.

The Fearless Prediction: Even though I was off on who would get voted off last week, picking Haley instead of Chris Sligh, I did a little better than the week before in getting two out of the bottom three correct. This week two really stood out in a bad way: Phil and Haley. Yes, even Sanjaya was better than them this week, which means he'll probably get voted off since he wasn't the worst one. But I don't think America, or at least the part of America with a twisted sense of humor, is ready to see Sanjaya go so I think he stays another week. Instead, I see Gina as the third Bottom 3 contestant based on comparisons to the other girls. That's what got Stephanie voted off so there is some merit to this train of thought. I get the feeling it'll be Phil who will be shipping out tomorrow night. Gina has done better in previous weeks and Haley's legs should buy her another week. This is the second time, though, that I've predicted Phil would be going home so my confidence isn't that high on this one, especially now that I'm below .500 overall on these picks. Perhaps I'll do better if I stop watching. It seems to work with college basketball.