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2006-04-12 - 2:33 p.m.
American Idol: Top Eight
The much anticipated night of Queen music finally arrived! First and foremost, there will and can never be another Freddie Mercury. To quote my friend Suzy, "Freddie Mercury was an island. An untouchable, irreplacable, frickin' diamond encrusted island." Amen, girl.
My thoughts and rankings of last night's performances.
(1) Elliot Yamin
Elliot sang "Somebody to Love" and in my opinion killed it. I gave him a perfect score. The best Elliot performance thus far! There's nothing more I really have to say. Bravo!
(2) Taylor Hicks
I know the earth has just spun off its axis again. I thought vocally Taylor did a fantastic job with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." This was the song I was hoping he would choose and I'm glad he did. Taylor's frenetic energy (craziness) was a good fit for the song. But that doesn't mean Taylor should act like an out of control lunatic for every song. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and was clapping at the end. And I think he looked great, too.
I'm having a really hard time putting these next three in order. I thought Kellie, Chris and Ace all did well. Since their scores are almost equal, I'm giving them a three-way tie for third place.
(3) Chris Daughtry
I'm not in love with Chris' choice to sing "Innuendo." I did like the lyrics a lot to the song and thought he sang it perfectly. But it didn't show him off like one of the better Queen songs would have. I loved the eyeliner, hated the beard. He reminded me a bit of Nick from Project Runway with that beard. In summary, Chris did well, but he didn't blow me away.
(3) Ace Young
Somebody that did blow me away was Ace. I thought Ace's decision to sing "We Will Rock You" was terrible. And I think it would have been a mess if he had been given more discretion to "urban it up." Thank God Queen stood their ground and said they wouldn't do that to their song. I thought the entire Queen package was very embarfassing for Ace. He came across really smarmy in the sit down with Ryan and dear Lord in heaven, what was he thinking with that outfit? First, if you're going to wear leather pants, make sure they're nice and tight. Blousy leather pants are a no-no. And please give that wood feather necklace back to Bucky, it isn't you, Ace.
That being said, I loved Ace's performance! I was surprised and impressed. It's his best performance since "Father Figure." Good job Ace. But please wear jeans.
(3) Katharine McPhee
Katharine sang "Who Wants to Live Forever." It was dramatic and beautiful. I loved the lighting. However, there were some sour notes and that's why I'm scoring her lower.
(6)Paris Bennett
Paris came out looking like Lil' Kim. She sang the "Show Must Go On." I think her vocals were excellent, I'm still in love with the tone and quality to her voice. I'm not thrilled with her song choice, but she did a fantastic job! This 6th place spot is more for the poor song choice and tacky appearance.
(7) Kellie Pickler
Kellie sang "Bohemian Rhapsody." It was like Barbara Mandrell doing Queen. The lighting was really bad on her and made her look old. Kellie's vocals were weak in parts. I did love her outfit though.
(8) Bucky Covington
Bucky chose the song best suited for his voice, "Fat Bottom Girls." The problem is that Bucky's voice isn't all that. I'm sure he can get by fine playing local country bars and a kareoke dive or two, but on national television? On a studio produced album? On a multi-state tour? NOOOOOOO! I don't get it, I don't get it all. He's boring. His voice is just meh. He just isn't good enough.
