Type_A_Tiff's Critiques There's a greater range in scores this week because, as sp78 pointed out, my scores are pretty much meaningless when there's only a tenth separating everyone! It was already a struggle to put a 1.5 difference today! So people shouldn't compare them to my scores from previous weeks anymore. It comes down to who's been getting the most votes, who's been struggling with the votes, and considering that, who needs a higher score from us to stay in the game or a lower score to not have this in the bag.
1. Kitzarina – The Past Is Another Land - 8.0
This was your first trial take of the song, and it wasn’t meant to be the final clip used – and while it’s not your best performance, it’s also impressive for your first try. Your voice is better as an alto than a soprano, so it was a good song choice even though your upper register faltered a bit. Watch out about sounding too shrill and screaming the high notes and rein in that belt a bit. Still, your dynamic range was best put to use this week and you had clear diction. You seemed vocally and emotionally “there” instead of just singing the words, which is something you consistently do well; you become the character singing the song. Work on controlling your voice more and watch your tempo changes. Solid showing.
2. jrb_actor – Kiss - 8.3
If you had pulled this off in Prince’s key, you would’ve maybe scored in the 9s! The double-edged sword with you is that you consistently present good performances, which means you always get high marks BUT you are also held to a higher standard than some other contestants, and you have to work harder to give us a song that blows us away. You have to raise the bar that you’ve helped set instead of just continuing to be “solid as usual”. On the bright side, you’re good at making a song “your own” and I look forward to seeing how you Jerbify the performance. Your voice was good, but even with the ad-libs, I thought it was lacking the simmering sexiness and raw energy of the original. Technically speaking, your voice was good and that was an ambitious falsetto bit. It’s just now that it’s later in the competition, you need to do a show-stopping song that will seal the deal for you.
3. WesternSky2 – Summertime - 7.5
I like that you chose something that’s more loyal to the theme. You’ve also chosen one of the most challenging songs because it’s so revered and has been done by so many amazing women. Good choice to cut out the beginning accompaniment to the song and played the background quietly, because unfortunately, the background wasn’t very good. You were subtly melancholy and sultry in the appropriate parts, although your pitch was a bit off in the beginning, especially that sharp low note. Watch your vibrato in your lower register as well. Since it’s such a short clip (under two minutes), it would’ve been a better idea for you to show more dramatic range in it because it wasn’t very memorable and the emotion you put into your performances is part of what makes you so successful in the competition. Next week, pick a longer song with more vocal and dynamic range! It doesn’t really matter what I say now anyway, because you’ll still get the votes!
4. ebonic_singer – Stand By Me - 7.7
We battled over what song you should do this week and you wanted to go with this one. I still don’t think this was the best song choice for you because it’s so repetitive…but it’s also simpler than other songs you’ve done, and that’s what people wanted. Still, I don’t know what people will think. Your tone is good and your pitch is much better than last week. When I started listening to the song, I thought you’d took the criticism that people had made about your excessive riffing and scaled it back…and then I heard the rest of this song. Don’t be afraid to hold a single note for more than a beat! Not every syllable needs to be riffed! You need to figure out what purpose the riffing has in the song: Is it just to show the notes you can hit? Is it to better emote how badly you want this person to stand by you? If it’s the former, why not just choose a song that has that range without you needing to have a melismatic orgasm every 10 seconds? And if it’s the latter, then you need to emote more, because you seem to show more passion in the notes you (relatively) sustain than in your riffing passages. KISS, KISS! (Keep It Simple, Sweetie!)
5. Allie – If I Ain’t Got You - 9.0
If this were American Idol, I would make like Randy and Paula and give you a standing ovation. After weeks of “Emote! Energy! Bring it! Show your range! Be more than just sweet!” – FINALLY! It’s clicked. And this, to me, is the best song you’ve done. You’ve improved the most out of all the remaining contestants. You injected this song with the passion and sexiness missing from your other performances. You were a bit flat and shaky in the beginning (i.e. the first “some people want it all” and that high “some just! Want everything…”) but totally worked out the shakiness as you progressed (just watch the slight flatness). You were so alive and it was so evident that you were having fun doing this song – you’ve raised the bar for yourself. Those melismatic parts were better than I expected – we haven’t seen that from you until now! You still haven’t showed your belt but good use of head voice. And you really adapted well to the song, which is distinctly different than anything you’ve done so far. You really showed your range – you’re still sweet, but now you can add “jazzy”, “bluesy” and “sultry” to your repertoire – who knew? Work on controlling your voice and pitch a bit more. But I’m just nitpicking. While I don’t think you’re the top vocalist in the competition right now, you getting the highest mark this week reflects the vast improvement I saw today. Thank you. So much.
6. Spiderdj82 – Superstition 8.5
Perfect choice of artist and song for your voice. You seem to be having a lot of fun with this song. Your pitch was mostly good but watch out because sometimes your enunciation gets a bit muddled. While I think this was a technically superior performance, it would’ve been better if you’d matched the level of intensity you put into your first take. Still, it’s an expectedly satisfactory showing. Just watch out – although your song submissions have only become consistently good for the last few weeks, you may suffer the same problem as jrb_actor, which, in case you don’t read the other comments, is: “The double-edged sword with you is that you consistently present good performances, which means you always get high marks BUT you are also held to a higher standard than some other contestants, and you have to work harder to give us a song that blows us away. You have to raise the bar that you’ve helped set instead of just continuing to be “solid as usual”.”
"It's not always about you!!!" (But if you think I'm referring to you anyway, then I probably am.)
"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater
"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell
Updated On: 2/23/06 at 06:56 PM
