From Deseret News archives:
'Idol' performances disappointing
Last week's American Idol was dedicated to the music of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, and it left me thinking, "I rushed home for that?"
In a reality show where the singers are often apologetically told they're "too Broadway," as though that's a bad thing, I thought this week demonstrated it takes a very special singer to be "too Broadway."
And none of them were (but I loved David Archuleta's "Think of Me" and Syesha Mercado's "One Rock & Roll Too Many.")
These are hard songs to sing, and you need to know how to sing in order to pull it off. Today's pop songs are filled with, what I call vocal gymnastics: So many riffs and runs it's easy to disguise poor pitch and lack of melody. But you can't do that with Broadway songs. and certainly not Webber's tunes, whose melodies are so clear.
I think the contestants all just chose the one or two Webber songs they'd actually heard before, and that's too bad.
One more thing ...
Let's talk about Brooke White. She sang "You Must Love Me" from the movie version of "Evita." I'm sorry, I thought it was awful. That aside, everyone's been buzzing about her starting the song, forgetting the words, stopping and starting over.
What do you think? The judges were mixed.
Having been a performer myself, I think it's a no-no.
I forgot the words once. I was singing a song I knew well at my sister's wedding and suddenly the words just weren't there. Gone. For about two seconds, I had nothing. The brain is a scary thing sometimes. I'm horrified about it to this day, and I can't imagine it happening on live TV (luckily aunts and uncles are a little more forgiving). I truly feel for Brooke.
But I can't think of one capacity of performing where it's acceptable to stop and start over.
Come to think of it, a figure skater would never do it (with the exception of Tonya Harding, maybe). When a basketball player heads to the hoop, he can't stop and try it again. Gymnasts can't stop and start over. This is showtime — you must perform.
The mark of a true performer, in my opinion, is the one who puts the audience at ease even through mistakes. Don't roll your eyes. Don't get a flustered look on your face. Don't draw attention to it. At all. And most of the time, the audience won't even notice.
That's enough "American Idol" for now. On to the Big Apple!
Outer Critics Circle: The nominations were announced last week and so far "Young Frankenstein," by Mel Brooks, leads the pack with 10 nominations. "Les Liasons Dangereuses" got nine, and the revival of "South Pacific" pulled in eight. Winners will be announced May 22.
