Is anyone else AMAZED about how Joel Madden is at all this?! He’s an absolute natural and the show hinges on his excellent judging. Another thing that’s impressing me is the calibre of performances. Understandably, we’re not seeing the masses so the quality is going to be higher, but almost everyone that has progressed to the Top 48 has been better than most Idol finalists (Top 12.) A very promising sign.
About those performances…
Cam Tapp kicked off the show with a very typical singing comp track, “Superman”, which was delivered incredibly well. Loved the (surprisingly well sung) “Thank God that’s over,” at the end – good to see that some of the contestants have more personality than Band-Aid.
Androgynous sounding Gail Page did a banging job of “I Put a Spell on You.” Given that she sounds like nothing else in the country, I thought she should have at least progressed to the top 48. Can someone please explain to me why Seal was screaming the whole way through but not pressing the button?!
Laura Bunting’s version of Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” was undeniably powerful, but what happens when she doesn’t sing a Kate Bush song? The whole quirky female singer-songwriter shtick doesn’t extend beyond a few artists. Still, credit where credit’s due – she was thrilling.
If there’s ever been one way to be chosen, it’s Brett Clarke singing Keith Urban’s “Making Memories Of Us.” It had barely started before the buzzer was slammed. “Born To Try” anyone? God I hope not. Or they could sing a Seal hit (choose between the two.)
Rebecca Tapia was next with Alicia Keys’ over sung “If I Ain’t Got You.” She did a decent enough job, but the judges were right to keep their standards high.
No one will ever be able to convince me that Ysharel Pacsual’s “Miss You” was anything but a hot mess. Keith pressed the buzzer after two seconds and desperately tried to appear that he hadn’t made a mistake for the rest of the song. How Seal picked him as well is as inexplicable as his face. Utterly shit.
Chris Sebastian, AKA Guy’s brother, performed “Halo.” Not much to report here. Since he sounds so much like his brother, isn’t this just a timewasting experience? Course he chose Seal. Ugh.
Given that the show loves an underdog story and previous Idol-type shows have allowed contestants to go far beyond their time because of a situation or disability, it was so refreshing to see blind singer Rachael Leahcar absolutely blow the competition out of the water with her astounding rendition of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose.” A tough song, even tougher given the demographic. She nailed it.
There was a lot of controversy about Delta’s team member situation and her abilities. Sure, people mock her but if you think about it logically – she is the best possible judge to have. Seal and Joel are from bigger music markets, so they’ve had opportunities that Keith and Delta haven’t. Unlike Keith, Delta won over Australia before making a big mark on Europe. So if you were an Aussie artist hoping to make it big domestically and eventually, internationally, don’t you think she’d be the best bet?!
Every judge now has four, except for Delta’s single. It looks Joel has the cream of the crop so far, with his team of varietal excellence. Seal has Karice and Casey though and we all know with The Voice that it’s better to have one winner than four great singers.
The third blind auditions are on tonight at 7:30pm – Looking forward to the judges finalising their teams, I just hope this process doesn’t go on too long!
