American Idol: Showtunes Week

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:12pm

I guess people posted about it already, but Tuesday, American Idol had showtunes week. I was VERY surprised that only Constantine really knew a showtune to choose. Everyone else was like, "Oh, they chose a song for me" or "I asked people and then I listened to the song for the first time ever". AND when they had to guess what the genre was last week, no one got it until Seacrest said "The Phantom". Wow. And some people say they're so multi-genre related...it just suprised me. Also, I wondered why nobody did a song like "Cabaret" or even "The Wizard And I". I know LaToya sang "Parade" (sorry if that's not the name) last season, and she did a REALLY good job, but this year everyone was kind of just..blah because they didn't know the stories behind what they were singing.
Sorry, I had to say something :)

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:15pm

well for one thing i think it is classical show tunes so no wicked and stuff...

It was sad that no one knew any of them until they had to..but that's life..we are the minority in the age group...people our age don't listen to bway

i'm watching it on tivo right now since i wasn't home for it...

[Justice]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:17pm

The reason why The Wizard and I was not done was because the genre was titled "Classic Musicals", and Cabaret doesn't have anything that stands on its own.

Carrie Underwood was the best out of all of them, because not only did she have the voice, but she hit every note right on. She was also the only one who sounded "musical". Constantine was trying to be sexy - something which he is SO not!, and his rendition of Valentine had one good thing, and that was the high note...which wasn't THAT good. Also, you would think that someone with a musical theatre backround would have picked a song that wasn't a "Standard".

P.S. There were also a lot of people (like Carrie) that mentioned they chose a song from musicals they enjoyed as Children. Only a few had no clue what song to do (like Bo and Scott)

Updated On: 4/9/05 at 02:17 PM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:19pm

that's what i'm watching now *constantine* NOT sexy..please stop

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:21pm

I know it was "Classical Musicals"..I forgot to say, "Someone should've picked something LIKE "the wizard and I"..sorry 'bout that. Like why would Nikko choose a duet? And Bo chose "Corner of the Sky" which is over done, but they still loved him...And the one with any sort of theatrical background chose the weirdest version ever or Funny Valentine and STILL managed to pull it off!

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:21pm

Constantine's eyes look like they're gonna pop out of his head during that song lol.

[Craig]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:30pm

Justice-

Maybe This Time and Cabaret certainly stand on their own.

[Timmerbo]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:35pm

I Don't Care Much works well, too.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 2:57pm

Constantine likes the camera too much. I like his voice, but he stares at the camera all of the time and it bothers me.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:29pm

Justice and Craig: You nailed it on the head.

WHY OH WHY wasn't Scott booted?! He sucked so hard it was audible....

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:31pm

I hated Musicals night. The only worthy performance was Nadia's brilliant interpretation of "As Long As He Needs Me". She needs to win.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:32pm

I LOVE her, but she puttered out at the end of the song.

[pab]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 4:50pm

I thought that they all sucked! That show would make anyone who does not know about musical theatre, want to avoid it like the plague. It was an embarrassing evening of television that did a disservice to musicals and I pray that they don't ever repeat it.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 7:11pm

I didn't lke it either.. the songs were..bad

[katielynne]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:19pm

i think carrie, vonzell and nadia did the best. carrie took a boring song and made VERYONE listen to it. and she hit every note right. and bo reminds me too much fo teh guy from creed. but im sorry i hate corner if the sky i cant stand the song never could. i had to sing it in middle school and i always hated it. and scott should've been booted off hands down. i was curled into the phetal position while watching him sing it was terrible. i love him, hate his voice.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:27pm

It was really annoying to watch. I get really touchy when it comes to singing show tunes. It has to sound... showtunish if that makes sense. What I heard the other night was a lot of confused people trying to decipher a song by making it something it shouldn't be. (I don't know what that was, but I didn't like it) Anyway, that's my opinion.

[Sargar]

Posted: 4/9/05 at 8:45pm

i definitely agree hannah...what i don't understand is why they just didn't let them sing musicals in general...that would have at least given them much more of a variety then the crap they chose...or at least the crappy way they sang them...

[Justice]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 3:42am

Craig - Maybe This Time was written for the movie. It was only added in the Revival on stage, therefore it does not qualify in the "Classical Musical" category.

But, really, one can't single out a musical. There were so many others they could have chosen from...like Showboat, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, etc. IMO, of course, Cabaret does not have the greatest music, but that's just my opinion.

[diana rigg]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 8:04am

These American Idol contestants are aspiring professional singers. Not rock stars (who write their own songs) but people who sing songs that other people write for them.

How can they stumble out onto stage, all confused, and claim to know nothing about Broadway show tunes? Scott talked about "Man of La Mancha" as if it was some esoteric piece of music history that only a Phd candidate would have heard of.

If you want to be a professional singer, you need to know something about the industry.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 10:17am

As a person who enjoys a good afternoon (or evening) of musical theatre, I can honestly say I was bored that night. I enjoyed Carrie, and Vonzell was okay, but I didn't really care for anyone else's performance. Some people should've picked a more "upbeat" song - not that a slow song is terrible, but it just dragged on the whole night. They should have avoided "classic musicals" and just have generalized it to all different types of musicals.

I could understand why a song like "The Wizard & I" wouldn't work on the show. Wouldn't be a little silly to hear a contestant sing about a wizard, Oz, or being de-greenifyed, if you know what I mean? But they could have just done a general showtunes category to include songs like "Maybe This Time".

You could tell that Simon didn't like anyone that night, and I could tell it's because he despises the showtunes category. His comments to people in the past have included, "Well, you sound like you could be better on Broadway singing showtunes. This is a pop star competition - this isn't right for you." He probably believed that this category was turning everyone in the wrong direction of being a pop star and turning them into musical theatre singers.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 4:02pm

Constantine gave an amazing performance. He was extraordinary.
p.s. I wish they had to sing showtunes that were not also easily "pop tunes." Every song done could have come off the radio or not been written for the theater. There were no definitive "only makes sense in the context of the musical" songs. I would have enjoyed that. The types of songs allowed kind of "dissipated" the meaning of showtunes. I wish they had to sing "character songs from musicals," such as:
Adelaide's Lament from GUY AND DOLLS
If I were A Rich Man from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Roxie from CHICAGO
You Can't Get A Man with A gun from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
etc. etc......I think this would have been much more interesting; shown other parts of these singers' talents. In years past, some of the songs performed were indeed actually on YOUR HIT PARADE (My Funny Valentine, for one) and were indeed popular songs when Broadway used to provide most popular music. If Broadway STILL provided the world's popular music, the songs the contestants chose, would like have all been on YOUR HIT PARADE. Again, I would have found it more fun had they done character songs from musicals. :)
p.s. Nadia was spectacular on AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME until the end.......she ended the song very poorly. She was entrancing till the end. What a bummer.

Updated On: 4/10/05 at 04:02 PM

[Footlooser]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 4:11pm

Does anyone have a clip of Nadia singing "As Along as He needs Me" I haven't been able to watch this season because of rehearsals.

[Ruth Sherwood]

Posted: 4/10/05 at 4:14pm

I agree with Pab. I thought they were all terrible, and,as I said on another thread, I think it was because none of them thought about what they were singing about.