Canadian Idol: Ziggy Stardust!
Admittedly, taking Bowie and making it your own is quite a challenge and I was nervous for the 10 hopefuls. For the most part, the Idol's rose to the challenge.
By the end of the night, it's clear that the triple threats are; Drew, Sebastian, Earl, Theo and Mitch.
Drew kicked off the night with a bang, a kick and a snare. He's a one-man band, which is extremely impressive, but might also work to his detriment. Drew channeled his inner little drummer boy while delivering his Bowie rendition. Unfortunately, his attempt to showboat may have instead shadowed his true performance abilities. As an already contained performer, adding another element only worked to hide Drew's vocal abilities.
Sebastian makes every song his own and when he takes the stage the performance is authentic, every time! Prior to tonight, I would have also said that his performance is flawless every time. Apparently, you can have too much of a good thing and I'd like to believe that was the issue with tonight's performance. It would have been nice to see Sebastian leave his guitar backstage and bring it as a front man. But, as always, Sebastian still stands heads above most of the Top 10.
Earl just might be the most entertaining Idol hopeful ever. Not because he's the best singer or musician or performer, but because he has this quirky energy that just makes you love anything he does. Let's see how long his personality keeps the votes coming in.
Theo could make a beautiful album, one that's somewhere along the lines of Josh Groban meets OneRepublic. I agree with the Judges, Theo is in a totally different league from the other Idol hopefuls. His classical background and training mixed with a natural modern pop feel has created some great arrangements and in turn, performances. Sadly, I feel that he may be too mature for the Idol audience (much like Oliver).
Mitch, what can I say about him other than, THAT my friends, was the best Bowie-inspired performance of the evening. Mitch took Bowie and fit it perfectly within the Mitch mold. For people who aren't familiar with the Bowie catalogue, they could have seen that as an original song, that's how authentic his performance was.
Those were the five shining stars, complete with stardust for me tonight. Those who didn't quite make the grade were Adam, Mark, Mookie, Amberly.
Sometimes in hopes of shadowing what may be a less then stellar musical showing, theatrical elements are amped up. Adam used theatrics to divert attention away from his less than edgy, less than vocally sound performance. If singing out "rebel, rebel" then mean it, throw it in the audience and viewers faces, throw your vocals into it 100%, chanel a little Bowie snarl! I for one am still surprised that Adam has made it this far, but clearly the shinier elements of his performances are winning him fans.
Mark Day put on his dancing shoes tonight to take on, "Dancin' in the Streets". Mark, you're only solidifying my stance that you should be over in the theatre district and not the Idol stage. Mark's performance was more like a bad "So You Think You Can Dance" audition than what an Idol performance should be.
Mookie is not a man (or musician) that will ever sell me (or the world). He's been very good at imitating the artists whose song's he's covering which may be duping Idol viewers (and Judges) into feeling that he is more talented than he is. But, who is Mookie? It's weeks into the competition and I still don't feel like he's given even a hint as to who HE is, what HIS sound is or what type of album he'd create. I do know that he can imitate whoever sings any of his favourite songs.
I dig Amberly's sweet singer/ songwriter vibe, but it's getting a little stale. Could someone give this girl a RedBull and just shake her up a little. I want to see Amberly just get crazy and belt out a rock song on the Idol stage. To just not play it safe one week and let it all out.
Last, but not least...Katherine. I am on the fence about Katherine. She's turning into a rocker right before our eyes and it's working for her, this chick is admittedly on fire. Her increasing confidence is really helping her bring it vocally, she's coming into her own image wise, but it still feels, at least for me very fabricated.
Well, those are your Top 10's! Can't wait to see who makes it through tomorrow night. Clearly we know who my money is on.
