American Idol Review – Top 6 – Andrew Lloyd Webber night

Posted on 25. Apr, 2008 by Per Bristow in American Idol, Performance, Singing

This week Andrew Lloyd Webber was the guest "coach" on American Idol.  I have had the pleasure of working with some of his material as well as met him personally as I was Rum Tum Tugger in Cats for a year and have also sung Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.  However, I was puzzled that American Idol brought him in.  In the past, singers have been critized for sounding "too Broadway", so why this move?  And who would be able to pull off an Andrew Lloyd Webber song?…

Syesha Mercado  – One Rock’n Roll Too Many

The personality that I wished for to really sparkled tonight. It was great to see her like this. Kudos to Andrew Lloyd Webber to help her get that side out. Awesome vocals and performance. I liked it even better the second night when she went out into the audience and really took charge. More of that and she has a great future ahead.

Jason Castro – Memory

Look, Jason just can’t sing out. He has very little power. He can’t sing long phrases without squeezing the sound, so he always has to cut notes and phrases short. He has very limited range and barely no dynamics. I would say his is probably the most limited voice that has ever gone this far in American Idol. 

And yet… I loved this. It was the wackiest song choice ever, but I felt it. I was engaged in the song. I felt his pain. In fact, I was drawn in like never before when he sang. Now, I’m positive that if Jason were to develop greater freedom and strength to his voice, his personality would shine even more. He would be able to play more with his voice and express himself even freer. Having said that, there are many known and unknown singers who can sing amazingly well, but nobody on this planet could sing Memory the way Jason sang it. If that’s good or bad is up to you.

Brooke White – You Must Love Me

I was quite certain that this was the song she would choose. It’s one of the few Webber songs she could handle vocally. This song requires more acting skills than singing skills, and her acting was quite good. She connected quite well with the material, which it seems Andrew Lloyd Webber was a big part in helping her do. The fact that she stopped and started again wasn’t a big problem for me.  Sure, I went “oops” like everyone else. However, it showed vulnerability and added to the dilemma of her character.  In a way it also showed a “take charge” professional mentality. Good for her.

David Archuleta –

In a sense he made it easy for himself by turning an Andrew Lloyd Webber song into a David Archuleta pop song. And he’s good at it. I’m not sure it is to his benefit though. The longer the competition goes I have a feeling he might loose ground. It’s possible people will feel that they have heard it already, as he has similar approach to many songs.  I hope he goes for a more up-tempo song next week and surprises us with something different.

Carly Smithson – Jesus Christ Superstar

Give a hand to Andrew Lloyd Webber to get Carly going. We should realize that there is a reason why Andrew Lloyd Webber is as successful as he is and it’s not only because he writes music. This was Carly’s best performance in my mind.  Her “shouting” was for once appropriate for the song.  She really went for it with joy and was more outgoing than normal. She finally broke out of her “showing off her voice” habit and opened her eyes and sung out for once. 

David Cook – Music Of The Night

Aaah, look at that… He finally let go of the mic stand. Thank you. Didn’t you find him more approachable?  Now, in a song like this, which is a character singing to one specific person, it’s fine to not wander or use a lot of different focus points. However, they way he did it worked well since it’s a concert situation and not within the musical. David is probably the one singer I most look forward to seeing each week for the mere fact that he often surprises, while being authentic.

Note on yesterday’s show:

Last week I mentioned Leona Lewis. It was great to see her in action this week. She’s an amazingly authentic and passionate singer and it was a true joy to watch and hear her last night.

Overall I give Andrew Lloyd Webber my vote for the most productive guest so far who has really helped the artists.