Typically, I wait until I hear the singles the producers have selected for the final two contestants on American Idol before I decide who to vote for. This was especially true for this season, where my preference had been pretty much evenly split between Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox. They were my favorite contestants throughout this season, and I was glad to see them both make it to the finale.
What tipped the scales in favor of Crystal, in my opinion, were the producers' song choices for both contestants. Whereas Lee was forced to cover two iconic songs, "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. and "Beautiful Day" by U2, Crystal was given songs whose original arrangements had become a bit more stale, a quality which allows for the possibility of the cover to sound better than the original version: "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles and "Up To The Mountain" by Patty Griffin. Because I had never heard the song before, Crystal's acoustic rendition of "Up to the Mountain" felt fresh, in an alterna-blues kind of way, and I would have been content to hear her live performance played on the radio without any editing whatsoever.
Lee's song choices, however, left me utterly puzzled. To cover a U2 song is a bold move. The performance needs to be either really innovative or really bizarre for it to work. It needs to sound better than U2, folks. And personally, when it comes to U2 songs, I am not sure if "better than U2" exists. In fact, I cannot think of a single successful U2 cover other than the recent version of "One" with Mary J. Blige, a remake that succeeds only because Ms. Blige appears as a "guest" vocal with the band.
The same could be said for songs by R.E.M. This is a group with a distinct, iconic sound. One could argue that the success of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" (a song that is not, structurally-speaking, very melodically compelling or complex) depends entirely on the genius of the arrangement - what Peter Buck contributes on guitar and what Michael Stipe contributes on vocals. In this case, a successful cover would depend heavily upon the arrangement itself; it would need to out-R.E.M. R.E.M. Can this even be done?
While I certainly like Lee Dewyze as an artist - I look forward to hearing what he will produce himself, without the bizarre input of the American Idol producers - the outcome of this season proves that the majority of people who watch American Idol will vote for who they like best (yes, folks, it is a popularity contest), rather than consider which outcome is, ultimately, in better taste (remember - the finale is all about which producer-chosen song you want to hear on the radio!). And as talented as Lee is, I'm afraid his cover of "Beautiful Day" will flood the airwaves like an unnecessary redundancy - like a giant moot point -because (except for the 12- and 13-year old girls who voted for Lee because he is so dreamy and who only vaguely acknowledge the existence of U2) who, when given the option, would choose to listen to a cover of a great song when he or she, in this era of music-on-demand, could listen to the original?
I have embedded some clips of the two performances below, plus a clip of a very young, and still very talented, Crystal Bowersox.
(Seriously, folks, am I deaf? Every time I hear Crystal's performance from the finale, it amazes me.)
What tipped the scales in favor of Crystal, in my opinion, were the producers' song choices for both contestants. Whereas Lee was forced to cover two iconic songs, "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. and "Beautiful Day" by U2, Crystal was given songs whose original arrangements had become a bit more stale, a quality which allows for the possibility of the cover to sound better than the original version: "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles and "Up To The Mountain" by Patty Griffin. Because I had never heard the song before, Crystal's acoustic rendition of "Up to the Mountain" felt fresh, in an alterna-blues kind of way, and I would have been content to hear her live performance played on the radio without any editing whatsoever.
Lee's song choices, however, left me utterly puzzled. To cover a U2 song is a bold move. The performance needs to be either really innovative or really bizarre for it to work. It needs to sound better than U2, folks. And personally, when it comes to U2 songs, I am not sure if "better than U2" exists. In fact, I cannot think of a single successful U2 cover other than the recent version of "One" with Mary J. Blige, a remake that succeeds only because Ms. Blige appears as a "guest" vocal with the band.
The same could be said for songs by R.E.M. This is a group with a distinct, iconic sound. One could argue that the success of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" (a song that is not, structurally-speaking, very melodically compelling or complex) depends entirely on the genius of the arrangement - what Peter Buck contributes on guitar and what Michael Stipe contributes on vocals. In this case, a successful cover would depend heavily upon the arrangement itself; it would need to out-R.E.M. R.E.M. Can this even be done?
While I certainly like Lee Dewyze as an artist - I look forward to hearing what he will produce himself, without the bizarre input of the American Idol producers - the outcome of this season proves that the majority of people who watch American Idol will vote for who they like best (yes, folks, it is a popularity contest), rather than consider which outcome is, ultimately, in better taste (remember - the finale is all about which producer-chosen song you want to hear on the radio!). And as talented as Lee is, I'm afraid his cover of "Beautiful Day" will flood the airwaves like an unnecessary redundancy - like a giant moot point -because (except for the 12- and 13-year old girls who voted for Lee because he is so dreamy and who only vaguely acknowledge the existence of U2) who, when given the option, would choose to listen to a cover of a great song when he or she, in this era of music-on-demand, could listen to the original?
I have embedded some clips of the two performances below, plus a clip of a very young, and still very talented, Crystal Bowersox.
(Seriously, folks, am I deaf? Every time I hear Crystal's performance from the finale, it amazes me.)
No comments:
Post a Comment