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by The Trades Staff Published: April 30, 2003
Ruben Studdard - "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" Mary writes: I love this song. I think Ruben did a decent job with it, but he seemed to not quite hit some of the high notes. I liked hearing him do a song that was a bit more lively than some of the ballads he had been doing very recently. Amanda writes: Ruben was good as usual. Not as good as I've seen him, but good nonetheless. He seems to have recurring issues with his breath control, and he had one really sour note that made me cringe, but he wasn't, to be sure, bad. Molly writes: I thought Ruben did a good job. He gets a lot of credit from me for the change-up in style, and while the performance wasn't perfect, I thought it was very good, and I have no doubt that with polish it would have been even better. Trenyce - "Proud Mary" Mary writes: Although I like Credence Clearwater Revival's version of the song, I *love* Tina Turner's version. I was hoping Trenyce would do something like Turner's version and I was not disappointed. This was the best I've seen Trenyce sing in a few weeks. You go girl! That was a very nice performance and Simon can just go suck on some lemons. Amanda writes: Trenyce looked like she was having a great time singing this song. I thought the performance was quite good. Simon's comment that he was reminded of a drag act was unnecessarily cruel, I felt. One of my viewing partners for the evening commented that Simon always rips Trenyce down, and it's true. Even when she's good, he seems to have something crass to say to her. I felt badly for her, and I thought she might be malaffected by this in her second performance. Molly writes: This was a great performance from Trenyce. It was the perfect song for her, and she did a terrific job. I was particularly impressed with the restraint and light touch she showed in the first half of the song, which really lent a nice contrast to the rev-em-up second half. Joshua Gracin - "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" Mary writes: Okay, Josh is squarely back in country territory. I thought Josh did a pretty good job with this song. He sang better than he has in the previous couple of weeks. Randy said he was a bit pitchy, but I didn't quite hear that. Despite the face that Simon was a bit mean to Josh, I must say I didn't really like his comment about Simon liking drag queens. That seemed a bit snarky and unnecessarily so. Is Josh getting tired of being on this show every week? Amanda writes: One of my viewing partners said, when Josh came out, "Is this a country song?" The other one said, "It is now." We all laughed. It was the only funny thing about Josh's performance, though. The rest of it was pretty sad. Josh needs to be sent home, quickly. He doesn't look like he's having fun anymore, and certainly nobody's having any fun listening to him. Molly writes: I thought Josh did a good job with this song. Of course, compared to last week, most anything would sound better, but I think that this song would record very well for Josh. Once again, though, he can't manage to walk and sing at the same time. Kimberley Locke - "I heard It Through the Grapevine" Mary writes: I think she did a very nice job with this song. Her voice is well- suited for this version of the song. I thought she did a great job. And she looked like she was enjoying herself. Good for Kimberley. Amanda writes: I like this song, because you have to. It's like a law. But they funked it up for Kimberley so much that we were annoyed. Was she good? How can we possibly know when the arrangement of the song was so deeply, deeply bad? Molly writes: I like the Marvin Gaye version of this song too much to enjoy this version. But Kimberley did well, and, in particular, her stage presence for this song was excellent. She's really blossoming as a performer. Clay Aiken - "Build Me Up, Buttercup" Mary writes: Okay, I hate this song. I heard it far too much. Despite that, I think Clay did a nice job with the song though. Nice to see him sing something that is a bit faster. No way will Clay be in the bottom 2 or 3 this week. Nice job. Amanda writes: When they announced what Clay would be singing, I said, "ooh, this has the potential to be great." One of my viewing partners said, "Yeah, in a high school play." We really think Clay should be on Broadway. We do not think Clay should win this thing. He was good, yes. But when Neil Sedaka said that he'd like to write and produce Clay's CD, we commented that Neil hasn't had a hit in quite some time. Neither, we think, would Clay. Molly writes: I hate this song too, and cringed when I heard that Clay would be singing it. But I thought he did a stellar job with it, and would put it as the performance of the series for Clay. When you add in that it was not his usual style, it was a banner night for Clay. Ruben Studdard - "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" Mary writes: Despite the fact that his facial expressions are really inappropriate when he is singing sad slow songs (why does he smile when he is singing all the time no matter what), I just thought his performance on this song was just great. I believe he hit it out of the ballpark and I'm glad. It's been awhile since I was wowed by Ruben. Amanda writes: I thought this was better technically than his first performance, but I was kind of bored by the arrangement. A nice job, I guess. Certainly he was the best performer tonight. Molly writes: Ruben had a very good performance. Personally, I liked his first song better; it was fun and a change of pace, and this was back to business as usual. But it's hard to argue with success. Trenyce - "Love Will Keep Us Together" Mary writes: When I was 7 years old or so, I just *loved* this song. I used to sing along to it on AM radio. Yes, I feel old. I think Trenyce did a decent job with the song, but I really liked "Proud Mary" better. I think maybe she seemed like she wasn't trying so hard during PM. This was the best night for her in awhile. I really hope Trenyce gets to stay another week. Amanda writes: Unlike during "Proud Mary," Trenyce looked stiff and like she wasn't having any fun. Maybe she did take Simon's critique to heart. I thought she was less fluid, here, and though she was good, she wasn't great. She should be safe this week, regardless. Molly writes: I thought Trenyce did a good job, but agree that she was better with "Proud Mary". I was quite surprised that Simon gave her "fabulous" on this performance and not the other. Joshua Gracin - "Bad Blood" Mary writes: I definitely think Josh's first song was better despite what the judges said. I think Josh was trying too hard with BB. Kind of like what Trenyce did with her second song. I also think that Josh needs to stop running back and forth across the stage. I don't think he's developed that level of fitness and/or breath control. He clearly is fit but it takes different training to run back and forth and sing at the same time. Amanda writes: Bad blood, bad performance. Josh is so obviously not on the level of the rest of the finalists. It's like work for him to be there. It's like work to listen. I think we deserve Hazard Duty Pay. Molly writes: I agree with Mary that Josh's first performance was better tonight. He gets some points from me for making it through the "do-ron-duh-duh-do- ron" portions, because that's not natural for him. But with everyone stepping up to the plate tonight, even a good performance from Josh comes out as lacking. Kimberley Locke - "Where the Boys Are" Mary writes: There was just one note that made me say "oops!" but the rest of the song was great. I do feel that Kimberley is in the top 3 and I hope she stays for another week. I think she's got a great voice and she chose her songs well this week. Unlike Josh and Trenyce, I think her second song was better than her first. I think Kimberley clearly does better with slow songs. I like her pacing with them and her voice control. Amanda writes: Kim was so cool during this song. She absolutely embodied it; outfit, facial expressions. One of my viewing companions mentioned that Kimberley is "this year's belter, like Kelly was last year." Like Kelly, I think Kim will go very far in this competition. Molly writes: Kimberley did a terrific job with this song. She really wow-ed me with her unabashedly old-school rendition, and she made it work. Clay Aiken - "Solitaire" Mary writes: Okay, I nearly died laughing because of the dramatic lighting behind Clay at the beginning of the song. Was that lighting really necessary given how the other four were lit? Clay did a nice job with this song. I think he really did well. I think both of his performances were well done this week. Go Clay! Amanda writes: Clay's backing visual looked like the a ring (you know, from the movie "The Ring"), so we cracked jokes about that. He looked a bit stoned, so we made fun of that, but then realized he always looks a bit stoned. We made fun of Neil Sedaka a bit. We commented more on Clay's Broadway talent. And then it was over. I think we were bored. It wasn't anything different, really. It was all the same Clay. Even the uptempo Buttercup didn't belie his drama queeniness. Molly writes: After being so impressed by Clay's first song, I was disappointed that I didn't love his second one. I just didn't feel it. To me, it sounded like he was getting back to some of the overstylized mannerisms that have been distracting in the past. But frankly, "Solitaire" is a strange song, so my guess that it would work better with a smoother delivery is just that -- a guess. Final thoughts: Mary writes: I like the final five this year MUCH better than the final five in AI 1. Nikki was so horrid for so long that it was painful for me to watch week to week. Now that Carmen is gone, it will be tough race for the remaining 5. No one was terrible and the whole evening was a pleasure to watch. In my opinion, I think Josh should be the one to leave, but I think Trenyce and Kimberley may be at risk. I think Clay and Ruben should be safe. Josh should leave, in my opinion, because he doesn't look like he is having fun any more. He also has had the weakest set of performances of those who are left. Amanda writes: Go home, Josh. Everyone else deserves to stay. Molly writes:This was really a banner episode, with everyone stepping up and giving personal-best performances. I think they've all shown that their qualified to be in the top half of finalists this week. But, since someone has to go, it should be Josh who leaves. He doesn't have the all-round performance skills to make it as a headlining American Idol, and, particularly looking at this week and last, he's consistently being outperformed by the other four competitors remaining in the contest. Based on previous voting patterns, though, Trenyce is still in danger. American Idol roundtables at The Trades: 1st Quarterfinal | 2nd Quarterfinal | 3rd Quarterfinal | 4th Quarterfinal | Wild Card Quarterfinal | First Elimination | Second Elimination Round | Third Elimination Round | Fourth Elimination Round | Fifth Elimination Round | Sixth Elimination Round American Idol on the net: American Idol's Official site | Sirlinksalot.net |
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