It seemed tonight that Scotty and Lauren were not really given an even shot at making an impression on the judges.
To begin with Lauren got to play the sympathy card – as they made a huge show of her having had some problems with her voice today. Correct me if I am wrong, but in Idol history have they ever made such a big to-do out of an Idol not feeling well? They brought the doctor on stage – during the most valuable TV time in the universe, to discuss it. Also, after focusing on this, they rushed through the rest of the show.
Scotty and Lauren were able to choose their first songs and Scotty wowed with a great version of “Gone.” Lauren sang “Flat on the Floor.” I guess she felt this was her best song of the season. She did a good job with it, but to me it just showed the difference between the performance levels of the two contestants.
The Idol’s idols chose the second song for the performers to sing.
George Strait chose “Check Yes or No” for Scotty. This is one of Strait’s own songs; a nice enough song, and a hit, but it did not give Scotty a chance to deliver a huge vocal. George could have chosen from any song in the history of country, and I don’t think he chose well.
Lauren was given “Maybe It Was Memphis” by Pam Tillis, by her idol Carrie Underwood. This was a better singer’s song, though personally I don’t think that Lauren made great use of it. To me a lot of her vocals on this song were rather muddy.
Jimmy Iovine chose the contestant’s final songs. These songs will be the artist’s first singles if they win AI. Frankly, Jimmy chose two pretty corny songs for the artists.
Jimmy chose “I Love You This Big” for Scotty. Before anyone starts singing, we are in trouble with this song. Who says “I love you this big?” A toddler. The sentiment is childish, right off the bat.
Consider what Lord Byron might say to express his love:
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Or even on a similar theme (“how large is my love”) Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
Or would you prefer “I loves ya this big.” I mean really.
Scotty did, I think, the best possible job with this song, but giving him this song was just unfair in my eyes. It is not a singer’s song and he did not have a chance to really show off his voice.
Lauren was given a song about loving her mommy. This song was once again, incredibly simplistic. No need to think folks, you will understand every moment of this song the first time you hear it.
Two things were heavily in Lauren’s favor with this song – the easily exploited sentiment of loving your Mom. I mean seriously, with very few exceptions, everyone loves their Mom. But more importantly, this was a singer’s song – with a lot more room for her to show off her voice: and she did; the voice that was supposedly weakened by a four-alarm medical emergency. I thought I heard her struggle a bit in the first song, but by this song there was absolutely no sign of voice troubles, so why did we have to have a big show about that at the beginning?
I think Scotty’s performance of Gone was the highlight of the night, with Lauren’s mommy song the second best.
The judges unanimously gave the night to Lauren. I won’t even bother to comment on this.
The good news is: the judge’s final predictions are almost never correct, and sometimes created to create controversy and spike ratings.
And no matter the outcome – Scotty is THE talent discovery of 2011.