After about 17 hours in the waiting room, I realized I'm totally addicted to this show when the prospect of having to sit through "The One" - which was locked into the overhead tv screen - practically brought me to tears. Yeah, sure i was recording Rock Star at home but I wouldn't see it for I had no idea how many hours. Fortunately we managed to move to an adgacent area and switch a tv to CBS without anyone bitching. Waa hoo..
We didn't manage to pull this off until the first four performances had already gone by - so the first thing I saw was Magni doing "Heroes". He sounded good, but let me lodge a little complaint about so-called "singer-songwriters" who never freaking PLAY THEIR GUITAR. It's not an ornament dude, either play it or put it down. I've been singing and playing guitar for over 20 years, and if I had an opputunity like this I'd bloody well *play* something - in fact, I'd play some lead guitar just because I can, and it's something Supernova actually needs as far as I'm concerned. I mean, Gilby's cool and all - but he ain't SLASH. (The little guitar segment during this weeks Reality Episode made that abundantly clear)
Ok, Dilana sounded great. Even though her voice has some odd inflections and her technique is actually bad - it works for her. It gives her character and personality. Sometimes being an overtrained singer can make you sound generic, and Dilana is not generic. Her delivery of Cindy Lauper's "Time after Time" was mezmerizing. This is a performance who you simply can't predict, never does the obvious thing - and always delivers. She remains probably the number one contender to win this entire thing IMO, even if she did miss a few notes -- she did everything else so well it doesn't matter.
Phil - was weak. He just didn't bring it at all. And the head-bobble was back. He just fell right back into all of his habits - but I will say this, he's learned to enunciate and has lost his "mumble mouth" status. The main problem he had this time was the song, which I frankly think he did better than Jason Dylan's original performance -- but that ain't saying much.
Ryan has been getting better, and his performance of "I Alone" was probably his best yet. But he was still flubbing the low notes in the intro - which is inexcusable for a song he's been singing since he was 15. I mean c'mon dude - if you can't get it after a dozen years - when *are* you gonna get it? He still didn't look like he knows what he's doing on stage, at least not until the second chorus - and by then it was too little, too late. If he isn't B3 fodder this week, he should be.
Josh just sounded lost on his song. He's struggling to make the song interesting to himself after deleting all the extra notes he's used to throwing in. I know exactly what he's feeling, because I've been through the same thing going from Soul to Hard Rock... but ya gotta SUCK IT UP man. There is a bridge between the two music forms, one that people like Paul Rogers have walked for decades. What you do is trade lots of notes for a few really good ones, and Josh's problems is that he seem like he's been using his vocalese and "melisma" to cover up some bad vocal habits. Rather than amping his performance up by focusing it - those weaknesses are more evident as he slides off notes and looks listless. This boy is in trouble.
Jill Rocked the House with Gilby on "Brown Sugar", she looked totally comfortable and in her element. Good job. He still has the "Bluesy" strike going against her compared to what Supernova is ultimately trying to do - but in her cause she does bridge the gap and does so easily. Josh may be on his last legs, but Jill is standing tall.
The last performance I saw live was Storm's- and she freaking killed it. This is the first modern sounding song she's done so far, and it was no trouble at all - so the likelyhood of her being stuck in a "classic rock" rut is pretty much over. Her technique is a tad better than Dilana's - but she still has character of her own, which is a good place to be. Plus she totally owns that stage - she could probably sing the phone book and keep everyone glued to the stage and TV. She's still my personal favorite, and if she keeps this kind of thing up - she's got a great shot a getting the final gig. One thing about Storm is that she doesn't oversing, she seems to understand about economy of effort and also about the idea of creating a bigger finish than you start with. In most of her songs she doesn't automatically go running for the BIG NOTE - the way that Dana would - she lets the song simmer, before boiling over. That shows good arranging skills as well as being a consumate showman. Can't say enough good stuff about Storm.
Ok - as I type this (from work) - I've taken a look at some of the performances I missed last night via the RS website and the first one up is Lukas doing "Bittersweat Melody" and as usually he has his own take on the song. Unlike his previous ballad in week 2, this one was much more effective. He has quite a few limitations in his voice, but like Dilana, it makes him standout. He could do without the Billy Idol snear though - that was week 1 dude. Also, again with the guitar playing that can't be heard -- enough with that shit already ok? Either let the man be heard, have him play somethng unique, or put the damn guitar down.
Dana IMO made a bad choice by doing "About a Girl" acoustically. She's been in a fight to prove that she can "Rock", and although it was a decent performance and did a decent respect to Nirvana's unplugged original - I think she should've just plugged it in and let a rip. Yet again we're on a trip back to the Lillith Faire - stop with that shit already will ya? Plus the thing about his song is the contrast of subltety and power, but Dana sang nearly the entire song at 9 1/2 - which doesn't leave you a lot of room to put four on the floor once you get to the energetic part (as both Storm and Dilana would do). She did manage to shift into another gear for the finale, but rather than being something that throws you into the back of your seat it was more like coming down off a speed bump. Pretty good, but not what she needs to do.
Toby's performance - I couldn't get to play online so I'll have to deal with it when I get home -(Update: Not bad, but nothing special). so the last song I have to review is Zayeeeda doing "Call me" in the alien jumpsuit from HELL. Jesus, this girl is from Mars! Are we sure that Magni is the one from Borjk's homeland of Iceland? Ok, never mind the eye searing outfit - never mind spastic stage performance - she ran into more than a little vocal trouble on this one. Sure, it wasn't as bad as her first crack at "You Really Got me", and she did manage to hit the notes she really needed to hit - but there was a whole lotta fluff and flubbing going on in between. I don't know what to say about this girl - I feel like I have to watch her from between my fingers. And if Gilby thought Jill's bump and grind was cheap- what does that say about Zayeeda in her Skin-tight Superhero outfit? Is she trying out for the Justice League or a Rock Band? Good grief.
Vyan
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