'Idol' Recap 05/22: One guy, one girl, one bad new song

May 22, 06:11 PM

I'm not saying I'm clairvoyant, but back in mid-January, after the season's very first episode of American Idol, I made the following observation: "Through the first four hours of American Idol audition footage, I'll guarantee you that we haven't seen this season's winner. In fact, I feel prepared to say that nobody from the Minneapolis or Seattle auditions stands more than the slightest chance of making it to the Top 24, much less the Final 12."

I bring that up as Tuesday (May 22) night's American Idol finale performances pit Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks, both products of the Seattle audition round. Oh, but I was totally right about Minneapolis.

Whoever I pick tonight, bet the farm the other way:

Singer: Blake Lewis
Song: "You Give Love a Bad Name"
My Take: Originally this performance was all about its context within the Bon Jovi Night, when it was shocking and refreshing in a sea of by-the-numbers covers. Stripped of that context (and knowing what's coming), it's impossible to get excited about it. I liked it then, so even in this slightly more orchestrated form, I have to admit that it's fun. The part where Blake spins around and plays to the audience actually diminishes its vocal effectiveness (he stops singing into the mic, creating a wind tunnel effect to the vocals), but nobody has cared before about whether or not Blake can sing. Why will they start now? Also blunting the impact slightly is the drummer, whose kit is over-micked.
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy gives him a 10-out-of-10 for beatboxing, but says the singing was merely aight. Paula, floating in the clouds tonight, gives him a 10-plus-10-plus-10. Simon says Blake isn't their best singer, but he's the best performer, adding that the singing was a bit flat in places.

Singer: Jordin Sparks
Song: "Fighter"
My Take: Jordin has an OK performance earlier this season with a Christina Aguilera track, so she's trying again. This song isn't a ballad, relying more heavily on cadence. Jordin's fine on the tough rhythm, but it leads to a somewhat breathless quality to her voice. The song also forces her to wail over an aggressive band arrangement, which wasn't a good choice, if you ask me. If the night was about proving Jordin could do fine with an up-tempo contemporary song, Jordin succeeded. If it was about showcasing her talent to its best advantage, she fell short.
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy asks her to check it out and tells her that this was an interesting night for him. He wasn't necessarily entertained, but he thought her voice was stellar. "Stellar" is a new word for Paula, so she repeats it. Simon likes that she chose a younger song, but calls the vocals shrieky. He gives Round One to Blake. Paula says nothing. Randy meaninglessly gives the performance edge to Blake and the vocal edge to Jordin.

Singer: Blake Lewis
Song: "She Will Be Loved"
My Take: After doing a more up-tempo Maroon Five song previously, Blake's going with a semi-ballad here. Again Blake gets distracted touching the people in the front row. I've never liked his falsetto and I'm not about to start here. The transitions to and from the upper register are rough and he keeps pushing notes. It's already a sleepy song, but he's going out of his way to keep it low-key. His problem here is exactly the same as Jordin's on the previous number -- he's attempting to prove his ability to do something that might not be the same thing we're used to hearing, while not necessarily showcasing whatever it is that's best and most unique about him.
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy thought it was a great song and a very nice vocal. Paula, who really should have been given the night off tonight since she has a totally legit excuse to be swimming on painkillers, giggles, stutters and finally says that Blake sounded relaxed. Simon calls it good, safe and not as good as the first performance.

Singer: Jordin Sparks
Song: "A Broken Wing"
My Take: This actually was one of my favorite Jordin performances when she did it on Country Night. Why have Jordin's songs been arranged so much more heavily than Blake's? If he tried singing over all this band nonsense, you wouldn't know he was there. Jordin makes her presence known, belting through all distractions, with only a few moments of warbling that could either be attributed to nerves or trying to be heard over the stupid orchestra.
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy says that age ain't got nothing to do with it and that she was flawless and better than the original. Paula announces Jordin looks great and was in fine vocal voice tonight. Simon says it was good. I believe we can safely say that Round Two goes to Jordin.

Singer: Blake Lewis
Song: "This Is My Now"
My Take: Ugh. We held a nationwide songwriting competition to come up with this? A song whose title is even more cumbersome than whatever that thing was about being inside somebody's heaven? Ugh. When was the last time Blake had to sing a song with so many low notes? That's where his voice is most unremarkable. He works into some unseemly harmony with the backing singing. Some of the notes are clearly off, but since the song's melody is hard to pick up, it's difficult to know how many of them. He looks and sounds unsure from start to finish. We'll see how Jordin does with this pabulum.
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy says he did a pretty good job and he doesn't have to feel bad about it. Paula thinks he did a great job. Simon found it a little odd, observing that it isn't the kind of song he'd normally sing.

Singer: Jordin Sparks
Song: "Now Is My Then, This Is That Which Was"
My Take: Guess what? The coronation ballad sounds immeasurably better coming from Jordin. It's not really fair, though, is it? It's still a wretched song when she sings it, but she finds the melody and she doesn't get overwhelmed by the harmonizing backing singers. There are definitely sharp notes here and there and she gets overwhelmed by emotion at the end, but Jordin is capable of elevating this awful material. Blake wasn't. With her it was a bad single, with him it was straight to the scrapheap. If Blake wins this competition, he'll be stuck with an entire album of pre-packaged songs just like this. He's better off losing and he deserves to anyway..
Sonny, Fredo and Simon Say: Randy tries protesting that this is a singing competition and she was the night's best singer. Paula calls her an angel. Simon didn't think Jordin was good enough to make the finals, but he says that he was wrong. Then he also mentions that it's a singing competition and she wiped the floor with Blake. Randy gives the night to Jordin. Paula has no opinion. Simon says Blake had the night's best performance, but Jordin won overall.

TONIGHT'S BEST: I'm going to say that Jordin and Blake were absolutely the night's best.

IN DANGER: I have a feeling that the Bottom Two will include Jordin and Blake.

YOUR WINNER: Jordin and I don't think we're going to hear anything about how close this one was.

Agree? Disagree? Who's your winner?

Check out all of Zap2it's Complete American Idol Coverage to see how we got to this point.

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Comments (52)

Comments

Blake is better off losing so he can do his own music. and when it comes to record sales, I can almost say with an absolute that Blake will out sell Jordin easily, similar to how Chris Daughtry has outsold Taylor and Katherine from last season.

Blake is awesome.

Josh | May 22, 2007 6:56:19 PM | #

I'm not a huge Blake fan, but I felt sorry for him tonight. How could they make him sing that god-awful song? How could they choose that god-awful song? Blake has some talent, but he's not really built for the crap they'd make him sing. Jordin can make the crap sound almost acceptable.

Rose | May 22, 2007 7:27:41 PM | #

Why did they make them sing the same song this year? Last year Katherine and Taylor sang differant songs. Becasue Taylor could not sing like Kat. Its like they wanted him to win. This year they knew Blake could not sing the same song as Jordin and theywanted her to win. Im team Jordin and Think she hit it out of the park, but it was not fare to Blake. But, he is better to come in 2nd to have more freedom. I dont think he will sale more CD's then Jordin, sorry, Not going to happen.

Ray | May 22, 2007 7:40:18 PM | #

And....Jordin wins.

But, really, Blake had no chance with that song. None.

Mehtel | May 22, 2007 7:58:04 PM | #

They clearly picked the song thinking Jordin and Melinda would be the final two.

Speaking of Melinda, anyone notice how nearly all of the times the camera was on her, she looked unhappy? I mean, this is a gal who's humble beyond the point of pie, and you can tell she's upset about not being up there.

But it was cool to see THE DAWSON, Mike "One Eye" Doyle, Denise "Soon to star in 'Pick my new failed movie star relationship' reality show' Richards (until she moved away from Simon), Constantine "Always trying too hard" Margolis, and the token dear lady from every TV show. Quiet a star-studded audience for one lacking any stars.

Who showed up on stage at the end? 99% of all DVRs out there cut out at 9, as to avoid "The Lot O'Crap".

Frank Rook | May 22, 2007 8:09:00 PM | #

Before they both sang that final "song" I would have said that Blake had the upper hand. But then came the last song, Blake butchered it and Jordin sang it OK. This goes back to the pre-season 5 competitions when both sang the same single. Kelly's song was made for her, so were Fantasia's and Carrie's and so too was Jordin's.

By the way, while watching, I couldn't help but think that MELINDA would have made that song much more memorable!

Aaron | May 22, 2007 8:10:45 PM | #

Sucktacular!

Anyone who ever thought that the producers don't manipulate the heck out of this show . . . I give you tonight's finale. Gee, do you think the treacle they picked for the coronation song wasn't written especially for Jordin? And do you think the closing montage of performances could have been more weighted in Jordin's favor? She played her part beautifully though, even choking up on her last note. And Blake seemed more than happy to hand her the tiara and bouquet. I think he's lasted WAY longer than he ever wanted to and is just ready to quit being American Idol's monkey boy.

I do, however, think Jordin should win. She's a better singer. But unlike they who doth protest too much, I am under no illusions that this is a 'singing competition'. It's a reality show! Harumph!

Siansonea | May 22, 2007 9:00:45 PM | #

The way the final songs were chosen in previous years is that at the point when four singers were left, two songs were chosen and each assigned to two of the remaining finalists. Whether we heard the same song (Kelly/Justin, Fantasia/Diana, Carrie/Bo) or different songs (Ruben/Clay, Taylor/Katharine) depended on which two singers made it to the finals.

This year, with a competition to choose the winning song (and this was the best of the bunch? Really?), they didn't have any choice but to sing the same song, and Blake got the shaft when the winning song was much more in Jordin's style than in his.

Keith | May 22, 2007 10:04:01 PM | #

Craptastic!
Like everyone else, I have to agree that the final song was exceedingly lame and played right into Jordin's hands (voice?). Overall it was another bland night in what has been a pretty bland season. Other than a couple of times (usually in performances by Melinda or Jordin), I had the feeling that this was a by rote year. No one (except Sanjaya) was really pitiful, but by the same token I wasn't blown away by anyone either. Even the judges seemed bored a lot of the time. And our finale just kept to that trend. There was no feeling of an "event" this year unlike last season.
As Simon said, Blake was more entertaining while Jordin was the (far) better singer. It really doesn't matter who wins as unless the producers can somehow reinvigorate this show any relevance it may have had is rapidly slipping away.

Will | May 22, 2007 11:12:40 PM | #

AGREE with all the above

| May 23, 2007 3:07:17 AM | #

I agree with everyone else. What a terrible song to end with. It sure wasn't a good song for Blake. Jordin will win tonite. Blake will go on. With some training & experience I think he will do ok. Tonite will have no surprises.

catwoman | May 23, 2007 3:24:49 AM | #

I don't agree that the song-writing-competition-winning-song was lousy. It was certainly better than "Do I make you proud." However, I'm positive the two song writers, who looked exactly like struggling song writers when they appeared at the Kodak, were a lot happier with Jordin's version than Blake's. When Jordin sang "This is my now," it sounded like a respectable chart single, and her palpable emotion at the end, genuine or not, was the perfect touch. I wouldn't put it past Blake to have deliberately tanked the final so he doesn't have to put out a single like the abovementioned Taylor Hicks "hit."

JCH | May 23, 2007 4:21:29 AM | #

Blake never deserved to make the top 5, let alone the top 2, so he has nothing really to be concerned about.....he's got a record deal anyway.

Amber | May 23, 2007 4:31:35 AM | #

The song was crap, but the coronation song always is-and in fairness to the writers, they probably thought they were writing it for Jordin and Melinda, not Blake.

Rick | May 23, 2007 5:36:01 AM | #

Jordin was the best performer tonight, regardless of what Twiddle-Dee, Twiddle-Dumb, and Twiddle-Dumber say. While Blake was anihilating the final song, all I could hear was Jordin's voice singing the same song. Well, she did and she did the writers proud. Let the celebrations begin so Jordin can get on with finishing school and releasing her smash CD prior to the Christmas shopping season.

Viktor | May 23, 2007 5:49:24 AM | #

Highlight: Daughtry.

Julie | May 23, 2007 5:50:32 AM | #

Wow Daniel over the last few months you've proven yourself to be even more banal and unsophisticated then I had thought.

Kate | May 23, 2007 6:29:41 AM | #

Bo, Taylor, Clay, and Ruben didn't have any problem singing a decent version of these crap IDOL singles.

So don't say it's unfair to Blake. He just can't sing that well. The single sucked, but his bad performance was proof that he shouldn't win because he clearly isn't up to par vocally with anyone who has ever been in the top 2.

I kept picturing Melinda in this final when Blake was on stage. She probably wouldn't have won, either - but that was her place, not Blake's.

Jimmy | May 23, 2007 6:41:58 AM | #

Um, the producers did not pick that song, people on the internet did. But there wasn't really much to choose from either, after hearing the top 20 songs. There were a few that were better than the crap that won though.

Mike | May 23, 2007 7:02:07 AM | #

Can we all agree the best vocals of the night were Daughtry?

Todd | May 23, 2007 7:09:57 AM | #

Daughtry ROCKED!!!!! And he was HOT too!!!!!!

Chris | May 23, 2007 7:13:01 AM | #

Looked to me that Blake knew from the get-go that Jordin was going to win. (I'm assuming she will.) That last piece of crap song - I can't believe Simon said it was even decent - Blake just seemed not to care during the performance. He knew he was hosed, because he doesn't have that kind of voice. (However - look at the large number of pop stars who can't really sing that well, but are successful. Akon, anyone? Remember THAT AI performance?) Curse on the voters for picking that song - and why does it always have to be something about "my moment" or whatever? Yuck. I just kept wondering why Blake didn't change the song style to his style - perhaps the producers wouldn't let him. I do think Blake is a better performer, yes Jordin is a better singer, but Melinda would have blown the thing wide open. No contest. Too bad. But I don't think Blake really cared to win, he knows he's better off not winning. Next year, how about not having a special "song" they have to sing, and just let them pick one, or the producers pick one, or let viewers suggest one. And was it just me or did it seem like a "normal" Idol night? Didn't feel special at all.

walt | May 23, 2007 7:45:15 AM | #

Only reason to watch tonight is to see Sanjaya again. This show went from good to suck in record time. I give AI another season and they should pack it in.

Paris | May 23, 2007 8:00:26 AM | #

Paula broke her nose tripping over her dog??????? She broke it trippin over her own drunk ass. I just hope she is more careful - you should never mix alcohol with Percocet.

Buster | May 23, 2007 8:03:18 AM | #

I haven't liked Blake enough to want him to win, but he definitely got my sympathy vote last night for being forced to sing that horrible song. Horrible because even Jordin couldn't sing it well, so was forced to act "emotional" at the end, which actually irked me. All I could think of was that Jordin was trying to be like Kelly Clarkson in the Season 1 finale when she was so choked up for having won.

Paula was embarassingly out of it once again - and after reading that she broke her nose on Saturday and is most probably on pain pills, I think it's safe to say that she has been on those pills since she had that infection in her finger from the botched manicure a few seasons ago.

Loved Daughtry, but could not stop staring at his eye makeup. Ewww.

Nolette | May 23, 2007 8:05:06 AM | #