From the Archives: Season 6 Barry Gibb Week

All this performances this week left much to be desired, which made it difficult to find one to feature. I was tempted to post one of LaKesha's performances since she was voted off this week, but both her performances were pretty bad. That would explain why she was voted off I guess. I decided on one of Melinda Doolittle's performances instead. This clip is nice because it includes the judge's comments, especially the drunk ones from Paula. "Vocals isn't all of it" she says. Well, she oughta know. And of all the people she could cite in comparision to Melinda she chose Stephanie Mills? I noted Paula's babbling at the time but as you'll see I was far too kind.

I wasn't so kind to Barry Gibb, which got me in trouble with one of my regular readers. I was taken to task for criticising a legend and bringing up his deceased brother. But as I said at the time: "Let's face it, everyone on Idol is fair game for the Armchair Idol Judge. Why else would I watch the show?" I still believe that to this day.

From May 8, 2007:

So here we are at the final four, and now they use Bee Gees songs as the theme? You would think that at this point in the competition the producers would use a theme that would present more of a singing challenge to the contestants, but instead we get disco. Plus, didn't these folks sing disco tunes during Gwen Stefani week? I think the final four week theme should be more challenging, like say Elvis Presley songs. Long live the King.

No, no Chris Daughtry reference yet. Don’t worry; I’ll work one in somehow.

So, can our singers get down tonight on the disco ra-ound? Let’s dim all the lights and find out.

This week’s mentor is Barry Gibb, who like Brian Wilson is the only surviving member of a singing family. Well, maybe he still has a surviving brother but have any of you seen him since the turn of the century? One wonders how much advice a guy who needed to suck helium to sing well can provide. I’m sure he can provide good hair advice, though. Even though his mane has more grey than mine it still looks good. Too bad Sanjaya's no longer in the competition. He would probably benefit the most from Barry’s advice.

Melinda: “Inside and Out”
Barry thought it was an unusual song choice since it was written for a trio. It was a little flat at first but it picked up towards the end. Probably not her best but better than what most of the others can do. Apparently though, the judges are demanding perfection from Melinda and thus pan her performance. Even Paula was semi-critical (fully critical is probably too much to ask). Perhaps she’s hoping to avoid eating her words from last week when she declared Phil’s performance the best opening song ever. Melinda may not have been wonderful, but she was 10 times better than what Squidward opened the show with last week.

Blake: “You Should Be Dancing”
Blake’s probably the only one of the four who can sing in the trademark Gibb falsetto. Mid song Blake breaks out his best Michael Winslow (the sound effects guy from the Police Academy movies) impression, which I thought was really annoying. His singing wasn't much better. Randy & Simon were all over that. Paula lauds the beat boxing but pans his actual singing, just to prove how bad it was.

LaKesha: “Stayin' Alive”
LaKesha goes for more of an R&B version of the song instead of the disco beat. It certainly suited her singing style better and displayed some creativity for once, something she has lacked the entire competition. Still, it wasn't that great. She rushed it a bit at first then tried to interject a bunch of stuff into the song. Let’s face it, there’s no way anyone can sing this song with a different arrangement and not raise eyebrows. It’s like singing “YMCA” as a ballad.

3 performances so far, all leaving much to be desired. Let’s face it, it’s not the singers, IT'S THE SONGS! These guys are trying to make something out of nothing and it ain't workin'. It’s like trying to draw blood from a stone. I doubt even Chris Daughtry (1) could do anything with these tunes.

Jordin: “To Love Somebody”
Let’s see what someone born long after disco died can do to keep this night from joining disco in the grave. There is some promise since she stayed away from a disco tune and went with a straight ballad. Barry thinks it’s the greatest version he’s ever heard (even better than his own?). I found it to be a little over the top. It sounded like she was trying too hard to sell it. Still, it was a good song choice and miles better than the three before her, which probably made it sound better than it really was.

Melinda: “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”



She’s looked real nervous during the interview segment, not an encouraging sign. She also chose to leave out the line about being a loser from the song. I would too given how often Simon whines every time someone sings a lyric like that. The start was tentative and almost drowned out by the back-up singers, and then she kicked it to another level and blew them away. 10 times better performance, 100 times better song choice. Paula encourages Melinda to throw away the technical portion of her singing, and then takes a swig from her big ol' glass of God only knows what.

Blake: “This Is Where I Came In”
Blake goes the Melinda route and picks an obscure tune. Barry’s excited since it’ll allow Blake to “use the little gifts that he has.” For some reason that comment really creeps me out. Well, there was a reason why this song wasn't a hit, and Blake found it. Not even his “hip/contemporary” spin could save it. This performance was better than his first but still pretty bad. Paula of course loved the beat boxing and thought it was in tune, then got on both Randy’s and Simon’s case when they both said the exact opposite.

LaKesha: “Run to Me”
She too goes the Melinda route and chooses a ballad with two key changes. I admire the fact that she didn't overpower the song like she tends to do, but it was not the best song choice for her. The song demanded a soft touch, which she made an admirable attempt to do but went away from her strengths. Instead it sounded flat. If LaKesha loses American Idol it’ll be because her song choices have been so bad.

Jordin: “A Woman in Love”
The good news is that she picked the only Barry Gibb song sung by a woman. The bad news is that the woman was Barbra Streisand, a tough act to invite comparisons to. And in this case, Jordin didn't compare well. The song choice exposed some weaknesses in her voice that I didn't know that she had. Jordin's good, but not Streisand good (even if you hate her politics you can’t trash Babs' voice). Just like the first song, Jordin goes over the top with the vocals and the emotion. Not nearly as much in control as she has been before. She gets points, though, for staying away from the Saturday Night Fever material.

Final Score: 4 Paula Abdul slams (a new record I think), 3 mentor criticisms (including his songs), 2 proverbs about doing the impossible, and 1 Chris Daughtry reference (not bad considering the theme).

Your Two Stars of the Night: Hard to say since everyone was trying to squeeze blood from turnips. Melinda’s second song and Jordin's first were the best of the night, but neither were all that impressive.

Idol Looks Back: Chris’ departure was a no brainer. I missed picking LaKesha to leave instead of Phil, but I did say it was a toss up and that LaKesha was a better singer. So all in all I would consider last week to be a success.

The Fearless Prediction: Now that we’re down to the last 4 it’ll only the bottom 2 instead of the bottom 3. Barring a disruption to the space time continuum I think it’s safe to say that LaKesha will be one of them. Blake should be the other for a number of reasons, though as the only boy left on the show he could be in the top two for that reason alone. The girls still screech at the sound of his name, and they ain't screeching for Melinda or Jordin. Still, I’ll stuck to my principles and pick him. It won’t matter, though, who will be joining LaKesha in the bottom 2, because for the second year in a row the singer who wowed everyone the first week of voting will end up finishing fourth. Last year it was Chris Daughtry (2), this year it’ll be LaKesha Jones.