American Idol 5: 1950s Night.

March 21, 2006

Published on March 21, 2006 By Jamie Burnside In Entertainment

Tonight's theme was "The 1950s". Knowing that: I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting the contestants to miss the essence of the oldies, or to sing an easy song poorly. Surprisingly enough, nearly all of the songs turned out really well.

The special guest star this week was Barry Manilow. There were good clips of Barry working with the various idols. (Barry seems like he'd be an awesome teacher, musician pitch-man, or snippet writer.) Watching the clips one could imagine that Barry had an influence on the performers, and could possibly be the reason that all of the performances tonight were so strong.

Tonight's Performances:

1. Mandisa did "I don't hurt anymore." Mandisa got to make some big notes in the song, and her voice sounded okay. This wasn't her best outing, but considering that her previous ones have been fantastic... Grade: B+

2. Bucky Covington sang Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy". Lifeless performance. Grade: C

3. Paris Bennett sang "Fever". Good choice for Paris' voice. Whenever I hear this song I start to giggle, because I remember when Mrs. Crabapple sang that song on "The Simpsons". Regardless, Paris did a nice job. Grade: B+

4. Chris Daughtry sang "I walk the line". Chris has been employing a good strategy of taking any song and singing it the way he wants to. He is one performer that lets the songs fit him, rather than the other way around. Grade: A

After seeing "World Idol" a few years ago, I kind of got into Norwegian Idol winner Kurt Nilssen. Listening to Chris is reminiscent of Kurt. They're really similar. If you have the opportunity, listen to some of Kurt's songs, and see for yourself.

5. Katharine McPhee sang "Come rain or come shine." Katherine looked really nice tonight. Early in the competition I was excited about Katharine, since then I have cooled on her a bit. Tonight's performance -however- was pretty "Wow!" Grade: A

6. Taylor Hicks sang "Not Fade Away". Like Bucky, Taylor had a hard time making a Buddy Holly song sound interesting. Maybe those are the types of songs that a person would have to sing with a guitar in his hand. What Taylor had going against him was really poor background music. Grade: C

...I almost forgot to bring up his "straight from the retirement community" outfit...

I really liked Ryan Seacrest's line, when he said that Taylor was a combination of George Clooney, Jay Leno, and Phil Donahue put together.

7. Lisa Tucker sang "Why do fools fall in love?" Nice clothes, cute, Lisa sounded nice. I think that Lisa is the prettiest girl in the competition. Grade: B

8. Kevin Covais sang "When I fall in love". Sitting on the stage at the beginning of the song, Kevin reminded me of Kermit the Frog's nephew (I forget his name).

Kevin's voice was melodic. Reasonably good performance. Grade: B

9. Elliot Yamin sang "Teach me tonight". Nice, melodic sound from Elliot. Good for him! Elliot's best in a while. Grade: B+

10. Kellie Pickler sang "Walkin' after midnight". The song sounded like it should have. I liked it. As this song is perfect for Kellie, this may turn out to be her best song of the whole series. Grade: A

11. Ace Young sang a jazzy "In the still of the night". (Not the Whitesnake version!) Ace's voice sounded nice. I liked it. Grade: B

Tonight's Best: (There were a lot of good ones tonight!)

1) Kellie 2) Chris 3) Katharine

In trouble:

1) Bucky Covington 2) Taylor (although he's too popular to leave this early.)

Comments

KellyW0498

on Mar 22, 2006

Thanks for the recap Jamie. I saw the first two and missed the rest. I guess I need Tivo!

JillUser

on Mar 22, 2006

I think I actually agreed on every single thing you said. I am glad Barry Manilow was just coaching them and they didn't all have to do a Manilow song. Simon seemed like he was in an uncharacteristically good mood. It was a fun show.

Dynosoar

on Mar 22, 2006

Thanks once again for the re-cap.

InBloom

on Mar 22, 2006

I actually thought Mandisa was the best singer last night...with Chris and Katharine rounding out the top three. Also, I'm a Taylor fan, but was very disappointed in his song choice.

AndyT

on Mar 22, 2006

I think it's a fun season as there are some amazing singers this season each with their own style, feel and charisma. I've noticed that all 3 previous female American idol have already been mentioned this season (Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson).

I know there are always the 'obvious' singer that we think should go, but I think the weakest this season are still strong even though it might not be in the vocal department.

Dadomo

on Mar 22, 2006

In my opinion, Kellie was the best last night. She made a song I'd never heard before sound appealing. None of the other singers achieved that, even with familiar songs. I like Katharine the most overall, but I haven't shared Simon's enthusiasm about her the past two weeks--she didn't "become a star" last night. Rather, she demonstrated the need to get some stage-worthy moves. Ace can't sing, and his mouth contortions are as unattractive as John Mayer's. Taylor's freakboy antics weren't enough to mask his mediocre voice. I've given up on wishing "Lucky Lisp" Covias gone: It's apparent that people really are "voting for the worst." Jamie thinks Lisa's the prettiest girl in the competition, but I would rank Katharine at the top--she has a classic beauty with amazing cheekbone structure. I think Lisa's probably second, with Kellie a close third. As for the guys . . . I think Chris is the only one a dude can even tolerate looking at 'cause he looks tough.

Jamie Burnside

on Mar 22, 2006

In my opinion, Kellie was the best last night. She made a song I'd never heard before sound appealing.

That kind of blew my mind when I heard that Barry Manilow wasn't familiar with that song either. I thought that was the kind of song that even non-country fans would be familiar with.

AndyT

on Mar 22, 2006

For some reason, at certain angles, Katherine reminds me of Cameron Diaz. Call me crazy.

JillUser

on Mar 22, 2006

That kind of blew my mind when I heard that Barry Manilow wasn't familiar with that song either. I thought that was the kind of song that even non-country fans would be familiar with.

Me too! But then I was raised on country so I thought it was just maybe a country thang. As soon as Kellie said Patsy Cline and 50s, I thought 'Walkin after Midnight'.

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