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Battle of the 'American Idol': 'I'm Telling You ... You're Gonna Love Me'
In "Glee's" midseason finale, Amber Riley as Mercedes blew us away with her emotionally wrought rendition of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." She was so good, she even won over Rachel (Lea Michele). But wait a sec, we noticed something, a common thread.
Some of the most recent versions of this song have been done by "American Idol" hopefuls, Riley included (although she wasn't chosen for the show). The torch song from "Dreamgirls" has been the go-to song for fledgling divas who want to display their vocal powers.
Check out the different "American Idol" contestants belting out "And I'm Telling You ..."
Tamyra Gray
Although the "American Idol" voting audience slacked off on voting, allowing Tamyra to get booted from the competition earlier than expected, she did get a chance to leave this impression:
Jennifer Hudson
Who needs to win "American Idol"? Jennifer's got an Oscar now for her supporting performance as Effie in "Dreamgirls." Here's the moving scene:
LaKisha Jones
The Season Six finalist auditioned with Aretha Franklin's "Think" and "I'm Telling You." Wow, LaKisha, that would have killed us! Check out her version of "I'm Telling You" once she became a finalist:
Amber Riley
Finally, this brings us back to "Glee" and Mercedes' bid for the solo at the show choir sectionals. She made her point quite nicely:
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No Hannah Jones dance version from the '90s? LOL
Fun post Hanh!
Do any of these matter when compared to Jennifer Holliday? Hudson's acting was average if not wooden overall and it was the song that won the Oscar not the thespian. I think she did a capable job but her voice has shrill/yell to it that I just don't enjoy.
Amber's version last night was more overwrought than most but she proved to have the chops to sing it over the usually outstanding Tamyra.
Check out YouTube for Jennifer Holliday's ICONIC and DEFINITIVE version.
Not only big girls can sing it. Checkout Charice Pempengco on You Tube belted it out. A small girl at such a young age... who ever thinks she's got that big voice?
where's Norman Gentle
I really think Lakisha did it best. Very moving without the subtext of a story behind it (Dreamgirls/Glee). I saved Idol on my dvr for weeks just to re-see that performance. Find the extended version and listen to Randy, Paula, and Simon.
I still believe that Jennifer Holiday's rendition is the Gold and Platinum standard. Jennifer Hudson - not so much, I simply don't like her version at all. I hear it played locally on the radio and I just cringe every time I hear it and just want to call the radio station and ask them to stop playing J. Hudson's version and just stick to playing Jennifer Holiday's. Also some dude on the X-Factor recently - the British show, named Danyel thought he knocked "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" out the ball park but it was just awful sounding. How could Simon Cowell have given him approval?
I do give big props to Lakisha and her rendition.
Although Hudson is my favorite, Amber Riley really did an amazing job and deserves the credit. Never liked Tamayra's version, Lakisha was decent.
When Tamyra sang this, she was the first contestant of the first season and I remember thinking... who is going to compete with that? I've never really cared for J-Hud's version. Lakisha's I didn't remember, but watching it again - awesome. And I loved Amber's on Glee. So it's between the last two for me.
As for everyone asking what about 'so-and-so's version - in case you missed it, these four all have an Idol connection. THe first 3 were on the show and Amber auditioned but didn't make the cut. THat's why they are the only options.
Amber's version was too over-the-top. That's the problem with a lot of performers -- the have volume, but they don't know when to reign it in and be more controlled. There's a lot to be said for nuance, as opposed to beating your audience about the ears with a two-by-four.