rj_anderson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rj_anderson) wrote2003-05-21 03:05 pm
rj_anderson) wrote2003-05-21 03:05 pm
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Eeeeeee!
Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.
As a final showdown it was curiously flat, and yet at the same time nerve-wracking. I started biting my nails the minute Clay hit his first tremulous note -- he said later he wasn't nervous, but I don't believe that for a second. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that as soon as it was over he dashed offstage and threw up in his dressing-room sink. He also went distinctly off-key at one point and then shouted half the glory notes, which is not like him at all. That being said, I actually liked the song. I'd like to hear him tackle it again when he's more relaxed.
Ruben's first performance was uninspiring: a poorly constructed song with no musical continuity (and I thought precisely the same when Tamyra sang that song last year), smoothly delivered but otherwise devoid of interest. His second performance was Lennon's "Imagine", which just happens to be one of my least favorite songs of all time, and I tried not to hold it against him, but... he didn't give me any reason not to. Bad arrangement, his voice was starting to go hoarse, and to my mind he gave no evidence that he either understood the lyrics or cared particularly about them. Meh.
And then Clay came back on, and ended my life. Yeah, he was straining a bit for the falsetto notes. Yes, the lighting was unbelievably awful, and instead of being moody and halo-y it made him look like he was holding a flashlight under his chin to scare the kiddies at YMCA camp. But he sang "Here, There, and Everywhere" with such lilting sweetness that he really seemed to mean it, and it is a beautiful song. Even though it wasn't a perfect performance, it was definitely my favorite of the night.
Ruben's third song, whatever. Musically it did nothing for me; I don't think the song itself is anything great. Ruben was sweating and hoarse. I was seriously worried for him -- I don't think he has the stamina to sustain a whole concert. I like him, I have nothing against him, but I can't imagine wanting to listen to a whole album of his voice.
Clay finished up with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", another classic song that does nothing for me. The arrangement was weird and overblown. The gospel choir served no useful purpose. Clay was trying incredibly hard to put every last ounce of energy and emotion into the performance, but he ended up shouting again. Not his best. But still better than anything Ruben did that night.
I have no idea who's going to win, and this last night of competition didn't help. I still think Clay deserves to win, and that if they're really going by number of votes Clay will win, but at the same time the media and the judges have been pushing Ruben so hard that I'm not sure they won't just push him straight through no matter how the votes turn out...
As a final showdown it was curiously flat, and yet at the same time nerve-wracking. I started biting my nails the minute Clay hit his first tremulous note -- he said later he wasn't nervous, but I don't believe that for a second. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that as soon as it was over he dashed offstage and threw up in his dressing-room sink. He also went distinctly off-key at one point and then shouted half the glory notes, which is not like him at all. That being said, I actually liked the song. I'd like to hear him tackle it again when he's more relaxed.
Ruben's first performance was uninspiring: a poorly constructed song with no musical continuity (and I thought precisely the same when Tamyra sang that song last year), smoothly delivered but otherwise devoid of interest. His second performance was Lennon's "Imagine", which just happens to be one of my least favorite songs of all time, and I tried not to hold it against him, but... he didn't give me any reason not to. Bad arrangement, his voice was starting to go hoarse, and to my mind he gave no evidence that he either understood the lyrics or cared particularly about them. Meh.
And then Clay came back on, and ended my life. Yeah, he was straining a bit for the falsetto notes. Yes, the lighting was unbelievably awful, and instead of being moody and halo-y it made him look like he was holding a flashlight under his chin to scare the kiddies at YMCA camp. But he sang "Here, There, and Everywhere" with such lilting sweetness that he really seemed to mean it, and it is a beautiful song. Even though it wasn't a perfect performance, it was definitely my favorite of the night.
Ruben's third song, whatever. Musically it did nothing for me; I don't think the song itself is anything great. Ruben was sweating and hoarse. I was seriously worried for him -- I don't think he has the stamina to sustain a whole concert. I like him, I have nothing against him, but I can't imagine wanting to listen to a whole album of his voice.
Clay finished up with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", another classic song that does nothing for me. The arrangement was weird and overblown. The gospel choir served no useful purpose. Clay was trying incredibly hard to put every last ounce of energy and emotion into the performance, but he ended up shouting again. Not his best. But still better than anything Ruben did that night.
I have no idea who's going to win, and this last night of competition didn't help. I still think Clay deserves to win, and that if they're really going by number of votes Clay will win, but at the same time the media and the judges have been pushing Ruben so hard that I'm not sure they won't just push him straight through no matter how the votes turn out...
no subject
(Anonymous) 2003-05-22 03:09 am (UTC)(link)I agree with you about the previous final, above, it was curiously flat and uninteresting. I don't think either of them gave their best performances, Ruben in particular seemed very nervous and wasn't being himself.
I mildly liked Clay's first attempt, because it seemed typically Clay - trying really hard with the glory notes and the eyes closing and whatnot. I didn't mind Imagine either. Unlike you, though, Clay's second song left me cold, I found it completely boring. Ruben at the end still seemed nervous, but he made good use of the choir. I thought Clay would do Bridge Over Troubled Water more quietly and sentimentally and devastate the American public, but the song was mangled by the bad arrangment and the pointless inclusion of the choir that drowned out his voice.
At the end of the show, however, my convictions that Clay would win were still firmly in place - he's a lot more expressive than Ruben, I think, and the emotion he puts into his songs comes across more clearly. I still wanted Ruben to win, though. *grin* Like what you said, but the other way - I don't think I could stand listening to an entire CD of Clay. *shrug*
~Chresimos