In another life, I made my living singing six nights a week. (And I was a music major in college originally.) So I’m a big fan of American Idol (and thank goodness for Tivo 🙂 ) If this program had been around 20 years ago, I would have been in first line to audition.
This season has been a strange one for me. At times I have really enjoyed the show but other times I have found it boring. The song choices, for the most part, have been pretty bad and the arrangements strange. Perhaps my ears are going in my old age, but the band has often overshadowed the singers.
One of the things that kept me watching was Elliot Yamin of Richmond. His story is compelling, and his talent tangible. But I never thought of Elliot as truly being Idol material. Then again – most of the people on Idol this year fall into that category for me. When I think of Idol, I think of star quality, and I really haven’t seen that in the contestants.
Judge Simon Cowell has said over and over that this is a singer’s competition. If that is the case, then the hands down winner should be Katherine McPhee. Like many others, I’ve been hard on Katherine. (A few of us get together to watch the show each week.) She has an arrogance about her that turns me off. But the real truth is that she can sing. A few weeks ago I finally had to admit that, even at my best, I was not as good a singer as Katherine is. And for me, that was quite an admission. (There aren’t many singers that I think can sing better than I could when I was at my peak.) Watching her sit on the floor and sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was amazing. For the non-singers out there, you have to know how difficult that is to do.
So this week, I will cast my first Idol vote. And it will be for the best singer in a singer’s competition – Katherine McPhee.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
What? I didn’t know you sang! Come sing with my band next time you visit NoVA!
Well, I have to practice first 😦 Right now, the only singing I do is in my home studio.
So do you have recordings too?
I have a Triton Studio and had great plans to do some recording with it. I converted my entire setup from performance-based to recording-based. Unfortunately, work gets in the way of my having fun 😦 so I’ve only managed to record one song with it. I’ll email you the MP3.
Thanks. I would love to hear it! Do you play musical instruments as well?
I play a little bit of everything – that’s what being a music ed major will do for you. My primary instrument in college was trombone, but now I mainly play piano.