Saturday, May 22, 2004
thestar.com.my: eCentral: News & Features
Stairway to stardom
By JASON CHEAH
The panel of judges synonymous with the American Idol series, (from left): Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
Auditions, call backs and a four-day workout whittle down the contestants further to 112, then to 84, then 50 and finally to 32 semi-finalists.
The 32 are split into four initial semi-final shows. Two contestants from each show selected by the audience proceed to the weekly knockout finals.
All is not lost for the remaining 24 as 12 are called back to undergo one week of coaching and training and return for a fifth “wild card” semi-final.
During the wild card semi-final, the “lucky” contestants are in for a shock, however, as the judges only allow eight of them to sing. From these, each of the three judges selects one contestant while the audience votes for one more via SMS.
The 12 finalists are Leah Labelle (17), Matthew Rogers (25), Amy Adams (24), Camile Velasco (18), Jennifer Hudson (22), Jon Peter Lewis (24), John Stevens (16), George Huff (22), La Toya London (25), Jasmine Trias (17), Diana DeGarmo (16) and Fantasia Barrino (19).
And now onto the finals’ weekly knockout stage, screened in two shows a day apart:
12 down to 11
La Toya London, as the first finalist to take to the stage of American Idol 3, stamps her mark early on a night of soul music as she bowls over the audience, voters and judges with an “awesome” – as Cowell puts it – rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody.
“Where do we go from here?” Cowell quips. Well, spiralling downwards, as it happens, with only Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo able to come close to London’s level.
For now, voters seem to be almost sane as Leah Labelle earns the ignominious distinction of being the first finalist to be voted out of the competition.
An insipid version of the Supreme’s You Keep Me Hanging On isn’t enough for Labelle to hang on, but already the “surprise” factor is beginning to creep in. Power voice Jennifer Hudson ranks among the bottom three, as does Amy Adams.
11 to 10
Former American football pro Matthew Rogers doesn’t make the cut after the Country & Western segment. Camile Velasco and, surprisingly, DeGarmo, are the other two in the bottom three.
Adams, complete with purple-tinted hair, shines on Dixie Chicks’ Sin Wagon, earning her the title “Country Idol” from the normally blunt Cowell, while Paula gushes:
“If you released this as a single it would hit No. 1 in the Country Charts.”
London almost comes into her own with a stonking original take of Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Going Down Until the Sun Comes Up.
10 to nine
It’s Motown night as contestants sing songs from the glorious 1960s-70s era. Unfortunately, being Country Idol isn’t enough to keep Adams from getting the boot. Sob ? we won’t see her purple hair anymore.
Unpredictability rears its head as Hudson ends up in the bottom three again, and, in a turnaround from the previous week, so does early favourite London. It is especially hurtful for London, who has to suffer being called up in lieu of red-headed Frank Sinatra sound-alike John Stevens, who looks suitably in shock for the rest of the show.
African-American singers not cutting it with Motown music? Still, as if to balance that, Barrino gets a “superb” from Cowell for her version of Marvin Gaye’s classic I Heard It Through the Grapevine.
Guest judges Ashford and Simpson come in for the ride and give some handy advice and comments while the Funk Brothers make up the backing band.
Nine to eight
It’s Elton John night with the superstar himself as guest judge. All contestants have to sing his songs.
Velasco, the first of the Filipina-Hawaiians, gets the chop. All still goes somewhat well, although DeGarmo ends up bottom three again, as does Jasmine Trias, the other Filipina-Hawaiian.
London asks guest singer Tamyra Gray (American Idol finalist from the first season) if not making the top three worked to Gray’s advantage. In retrospect, she shouldn’t have asked that question, although London does get top comments from Elton John, who “would sign La Toya to a record deal on the spot.”
Poor Stevens’ rendition of Crocodile Rock, meanwhile, is likened by Cowell to cult B-grade movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. Read what you like into that, but Stevens still gets off safe in this round.
Eight to seven
Jon Peter Lewis, dubbed “pen salesman” by Cowell during auditions, goes out on a night of movie themes.
Legendary moviemaker Quentin Tarantino makes an appearance and proves to be one heck of a fair judge. On a non-show point, American Idol reject William Hung releases his debut album Inspiration, which duly tops the independent album charts in the United States.
As for this Idol episode, Barrino stamps her class with her own take on the Gershwin classic Summertime. Stevens and DeGarmo (again) are also in the bottom three.
Jennifer Hudson of Chicago exited on a wave of controversy.
Seven to six
Renowned pop singer-songwriter Barry Manilow steps in as guest judge and naturally, they all sing his songs.
Controversy hits the show as the three divas – London, Barrino and Hudson – poll the least number of votes, starting up conspiracy theories galore, and prompting later comments from even Elton John that the voting pattern may have been influenced by racism.
Power voice Hudson gets the boot, while bland red head Stevens (still looking somewhat shell-shocked) and Trias remain in the hunt, although both levels of singing aren’t anywhere near the three divas’.
Six to five
Gloria Estefan makes an appearance. They’re all singing Estefan songs with the backing of the Miami Sound Machine itself.
London sings the best rendition of Rhythm Is Gonna Get You since Estefan’s original and DeGarmo comes close to matching her with Turn the Beat Around.
Finally, Stevens goes out. Man, the 16-year-old sang Music of My Heart with hardly a tune in it – even the now legendary Hung sang She Bangs in tune during his equally legendary audition. As ever, Cowell’s caustic comments to Stevens included something like “Latin music and you go together like chocolate ice cream and onion.”
(Note: Original co-singer of that song, Justin Timberlake, joined boyband ’N Sync when he was 15 years old and by the time he was 16, was already miles better than Stevens.)
On a positive note, Cowell goes on to commend Stevens for taking every criticism like a man, despite his tender years. Joining Stevens in the bottom three are George Huff and Trias. For once, the votes seem to be in order, but there’s only one guy left.
Five to four
The going gets tougher for the remaining five as they now have to sing two songs each, with a jazz big-band ensemble as backing.
Poor nice-boy Huff stands against the four girls and finally wilts – or not, as the case may be.
In this segment, Huff wavers vocally, yet stands tall as he waves his goodbyes.
A quiet week by all accounts as it is almost expected that it would have been either him or Trias to go and both poll the least number of votes.
London sings Don’t Rain on My Parade from the movie Funny Girl, obviously not realising at this point how significant her glorious rendition of the song is going to be.
Four to three
The fireworks fly, as the ultimate result of this round throws up even more conspiracy theories as public votes turn American Idol 3 upside down during disco night.
It’s still tough, of course, and the girls all sing two songs each, in two rounds of one song each.
On a vocal note even Trias must realise she is nowhere in the class of London, Barrino and DeGarmo, putting up by far the worst performance of the four.
But not even London’s outstanding rendition of Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way which earns respect from Cowell (“as good as the original”) and Barrino’s highly polished performance of Amii Stewart’s Knock on Wood are enough to stop both polling the least numbers of votes.
Even fair comments by disco diva Donna Summer, who turns up both as guest judge and guest singer (she sang with the girls on Hot Stuff and on her own, MacArthur’s Park), don’t sway the voters.
In the end, the best singer in the competition (London) is out, to the horror of the whole studio audience, half of whom proceed to boo the hapless Trias, who is already in tears.
“I think America’s got this wrong,” is Paula’s comment, with fellow judge Jackson saying, “This is a travesty.”
London, meanwhile, smilingly and with a poise that would shame a veteran pop star, prepares for her swansong.
Her rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade knocks even the socks off Summer’s earlier rendition of MacArthur’s Park, and to the tears of the studio audience and Paula, who has her hands on her head in despair, London waves goodbye with the telling comment, “I will be back.”
Three to last two
Are Hawaii, and the Filipino and Asian communities in the United States enough to keep Trias in? The going gets so tough the tough almost hardly get going. Each singer has to sing three songs, only one of which is their own choice. The regular judges choose one and Clive Davis, a head honcho of Arista Records, gets to choose another, and come in as guest judge too.
Trias improves from last week but still hasn’t got the “wow” factor as Cowell puts it, although her rendition of Mr Melody is by far her best performance in the series.
Even DeGarmo doesn’t get all praises either, but generally the comments are good for her, especially for coming back into her own with the last of her three songs, Don’t Cry Out Loud.
The judges are all agog with Barrino’s renditions of Chain of Fools, Fool in Love and a highly original take on George Benson’s The Greatest Love of All. Davis says that if there was no competition and he saw her in a basement he would have signed her on the spot. Davis also gives her the “wow” factor.
The results show is an hour-long drawn-out affair which leaves everybody on the edge of their seats as host Seacrest continues his “? will be back after the break” gimmick.
Australian Idol Guy Sebastian performs as guest, and American Idol 1 finalist Tamyra Gray makes another guest appearance to sing her new single Raindrops Will Fall. Significantly, one of the songs that the two finalists this season will sing, I Believe, is co-written by Gray. The winner will go on to record it for a single release.
Seacrest finally reveals the result and it is Trias who will leave the competition at this stage. She gets the honour of tossing the coin to see who will sing first on the final show. After that, she sings her swansong with great poise.
Stairway to stardom
By JASON CHEAH
The panel of judges synonymous with the American Idol series, (from left): Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
Auditions, call backs and a four-day workout whittle down the contestants further to 112, then to 84, then 50 and finally to 32 semi-finalists.
The 32 are split into four initial semi-final shows. Two contestants from each show selected by the audience proceed to the weekly knockout finals.
All is not lost for the remaining 24 as 12 are called back to undergo one week of coaching and training and return for a fifth “wild card” semi-final.
During the wild card semi-final, the “lucky” contestants are in for a shock, however, as the judges only allow eight of them to sing. From these, each of the three judges selects one contestant while the audience votes for one more via SMS.
The 12 finalists are Leah Labelle (17), Matthew Rogers (25), Amy Adams (24), Camile Velasco (18), Jennifer Hudson (22), Jon Peter Lewis (24), John Stevens (16), George Huff (22), La Toya London (25), Jasmine Trias (17), Diana DeGarmo (16) and Fantasia Barrino (19).
And now onto the finals’ weekly knockout stage, screened in two shows a day apart:
12 down to 11
La Toya London, as the first finalist to take to the stage of American Idol 3, stamps her mark early on a night of soul music as she bowls over the audience, voters and judges with an “awesome” – as Cowell puts it – rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody.
“Where do we go from here?” Cowell quips. Well, spiralling downwards, as it happens, with only Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo able to come close to London’s level.
For now, voters seem to be almost sane as Leah Labelle earns the ignominious distinction of being the first finalist to be voted out of the competition.
An insipid version of the Supreme’s You Keep Me Hanging On isn’t enough for Labelle to hang on, but already the “surprise” factor is beginning to creep in. Power voice Jennifer Hudson ranks among the bottom three, as does Amy Adams.
11 to 10
Former American football pro Matthew Rogers doesn’t make the cut after the Country & Western segment. Camile Velasco and, surprisingly, DeGarmo, are the other two in the bottom three.
Adams, complete with purple-tinted hair, shines on Dixie Chicks’ Sin Wagon, earning her the title “Country Idol” from the normally blunt Cowell, while Paula gushes:
“If you released this as a single it would hit No. 1 in the Country Charts.”
London almost comes into her own with a stonking original take of Garth Brooks’ Ain’t Going Down Until the Sun Comes Up.
10 to nine
It’s Motown night as contestants sing songs from the glorious 1960s-70s era. Unfortunately, being Country Idol isn’t enough to keep Adams from getting the boot. Sob ? we won’t see her purple hair anymore.
Unpredictability rears its head as Hudson ends up in the bottom three again, and, in a turnaround from the previous week, so does early favourite London. It is especially hurtful for London, who has to suffer being called up in lieu of red-headed Frank Sinatra sound-alike John Stevens, who looks suitably in shock for the rest of the show.
African-American singers not cutting it with Motown music? Still, as if to balance that, Barrino gets a “superb” from Cowell for her version of Marvin Gaye’s classic I Heard It Through the Grapevine.
Guest judges Ashford and Simpson come in for the ride and give some handy advice and comments while the Funk Brothers make up the backing band.
Nine to eight
It’s Elton John night with the superstar himself as guest judge. All contestants have to sing his songs.
Velasco, the first of the Filipina-Hawaiians, gets the chop. All still goes somewhat well, although DeGarmo ends up bottom three again, as does Jasmine Trias, the other Filipina-Hawaiian.
London asks guest singer Tamyra Gray (American Idol finalist from the first season) if not making the top three worked to Gray’s advantage. In retrospect, she shouldn’t have asked that question, although London does get top comments from Elton John, who “would sign La Toya to a record deal on the spot.”
Poor Stevens’ rendition of Crocodile Rock, meanwhile, is likened by Cowell to cult B-grade movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. Read what you like into that, but Stevens still gets off safe in this round.
Eight to seven
Jon Peter Lewis, dubbed “pen salesman” by Cowell during auditions, goes out on a night of movie themes.
Legendary moviemaker Quentin Tarantino makes an appearance and proves to be one heck of a fair judge. On a non-show point, American Idol reject William Hung releases his debut album Inspiration, which duly tops the independent album charts in the United States.
As for this Idol episode, Barrino stamps her class with her own take on the Gershwin classic Summertime. Stevens and DeGarmo (again) are also in the bottom three.
Jennifer Hudson of Chicago exited on a wave of controversy.
Seven to six
Renowned pop singer-songwriter Barry Manilow steps in as guest judge and naturally, they all sing his songs.
Controversy hits the show as the three divas – London, Barrino and Hudson – poll the least number of votes, starting up conspiracy theories galore, and prompting later comments from even Elton John that the voting pattern may have been influenced by racism.
Power voice Hudson gets the boot, while bland red head Stevens (still looking somewhat shell-shocked) and Trias remain in the hunt, although both levels of singing aren’t anywhere near the three divas’.
Six to five
Gloria Estefan makes an appearance. They’re all singing Estefan songs with the backing of the Miami Sound Machine itself.
London sings the best rendition of Rhythm Is Gonna Get You since Estefan’s original and DeGarmo comes close to matching her with Turn the Beat Around.
Finally, Stevens goes out. Man, the 16-year-old sang Music of My Heart with hardly a tune in it – even the now legendary Hung sang She Bangs in tune during his equally legendary audition. As ever, Cowell’s caustic comments to Stevens included something like “Latin music and you go together like chocolate ice cream and onion.”
(Note: Original co-singer of that song, Justin Timberlake, joined boyband ’N Sync when he was 15 years old and by the time he was 16, was already miles better than Stevens.)
On a positive note, Cowell goes on to commend Stevens for taking every criticism like a man, despite his tender years. Joining Stevens in the bottom three are George Huff and Trias. For once, the votes seem to be in order, but there’s only one guy left.
Five to four
The going gets tougher for the remaining five as they now have to sing two songs each, with a jazz big-band ensemble as backing.
Poor nice-boy Huff stands against the four girls and finally wilts – or not, as the case may be.
In this segment, Huff wavers vocally, yet stands tall as he waves his goodbyes.
A quiet week by all accounts as it is almost expected that it would have been either him or Trias to go and both poll the least number of votes.
London sings Don’t Rain on My Parade from the movie Funny Girl, obviously not realising at this point how significant her glorious rendition of the song is going to be.
Four to three
The fireworks fly, as the ultimate result of this round throws up even more conspiracy theories as public votes turn American Idol 3 upside down during disco night.
It’s still tough, of course, and the girls all sing two songs each, in two rounds of one song each.
On a vocal note even Trias must realise she is nowhere in the class of London, Barrino and DeGarmo, putting up by far the worst performance of the four.
But not even London’s outstanding rendition of Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way which earns respect from Cowell (“as good as the original”) and Barrino’s highly polished performance of Amii Stewart’s Knock on Wood are enough to stop both polling the least numbers of votes.
Even fair comments by disco diva Donna Summer, who turns up both as guest judge and guest singer (she sang with the girls on Hot Stuff and on her own, MacArthur’s Park), don’t sway the voters.
In the end, the best singer in the competition (London) is out, to the horror of the whole studio audience, half of whom proceed to boo the hapless Trias, who is already in tears.
“I think America’s got this wrong,” is Paula’s comment, with fellow judge Jackson saying, “This is a travesty.”
London, meanwhile, smilingly and with a poise that would shame a veteran pop star, prepares for her swansong.
Her rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade knocks even the socks off Summer’s earlier rendition of MacArthur’s Park, and to the tears of the studio audience and Paula, who has her hands on her head in despair, London waves goodbye with the telling comment, “I will be back.”
Three to last two
Are Hawaii, and the Filipino and Asian communities in the United States enough to keep Trias in? The going gets so tough the tough almost hardly get going. Each singer has to sing three songs, only one of which is their own choice. The regular judges choose one and Clive Davis, a head honcho of Arista Records, gets to choose another, and come in as guest judge too.
Trias improves from last week but still hasn’t got the “wow” factor as Cowell puts it, although her rendition of Mr Melody is by far her best performance in the series.
Even DeGarmo doesn’t get all praises either, but generally the comments are good for her, especially for coming back into her own with the last of her three songs, Don’t Cry Out Loud.
The judges are all agog with Barrino’s renditions of Chain of Fools, Fool in Love and a highly original take on George Benson’s The Greatest Love of All. Davis says that if there was no competition and he saw her in a basement he would have signed her on the spot. Davis also gives her the “wow” factor.
The results show is an hour-long drawn-out affair which leaves everybody on the edge of their seats as host Seacrest continues his “? will be back after the break” gimmick.
Australian Idol Guy Sebastian performs as guest, and American Idol 1 finalist Tamyra Gray makes another guest appearance to sing her new single Raindrops Will Fall. Significantly, one of the songs that the two finalists this season will sing, I Believe, is co-written by Gray. The winner will go on to record it for a single release.
Seacrest finally reveals the result and it is Trias who will leave the competition at this stage. She gets the honour of tossing the coin to see who will sing first on the final show. After that, she sings her swansong with great poise.
