Three to Get Ready - Now Who WIll Go?

Clive Davis







Yes, I have my 2 favorites -- I really have made no secret of it. But I can and will be objective. In fact, I’m here to report (somewhat sadly) that the contestant who fired on all 3 cylinders tonight -- the overall best -- is the one I wanted most to find fault with -- Taylor Hicks. If however, it would be somehow possible to correlate vote loss with the number of times he annoyed both the home and studio audience by shouting “Soul Patrol,” then Taylor would definitely be Alabamy bound this week.

We all know the deal with tonight's song selections: One Clive Davis choice, one A.I. judge choice, and one contestant’s own choice. So who was blowing & who is going?

CLIVE’S ROUND
Elliott Yamin: Journey’s Open Arms - Oddly, this was my favorite of Elliott’s 3 performances tonight, in spite of the fact that I don’t like the song and despise Journey. Good song choice for Elliot, perfect performance. The judges weren’t so thrilled.

Kat McPhee: Beautiful in sky blue, Kat performed a flawless rendition of R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly, and I do. Tragically, a studio light did not fall directly on Randy’s head and fatally wound him while speaking when he reached into his little bag of fecal matter and pulled out that “you’re not good enough to sing R. Kelly” comment. So much for the power of prayer and positive thinking. Paula disliked it so much, she was speechless, I think for the first time ever. Simon brought us all back down to earth with his sanity & wisdom, rightfully disagreeing with Dawghead, and praising our girl.

Taylor Hicks: Whew! Taylor removed his head out from Clive Davis' whazoo just in time to get up there and take his turn. And no, Randy -- he did not deserve praise for having fun up there (as evidenced by Hicks' move to pull Paula up to dance). That was not having fun, that was a blatent yet savvy attempt to imitate The Boss -- you know, from the video, when he pulled then-unknown Courtney Cox onstage while singing the same song (Dancing In The Dark). Regardless, it was the right song for Hicks, and he brought it. As for the dancing, Taylor would be wise not to enlist professional choreographers to do the Funky Broadway with him. Now that I think about it, Taylor may have learned some of his best moves from Courtney in that video.

A.I. JUDGES’ ROUND
Elliott: Paula chose Bobby Caldwell’s What You Would Do For Love, which (on paper, at least) would seem a perfect fit for El’s talents. I do like the song, and what I liked about the performance was that El was not content to repeat the well-known smooth phrasing of the original -- and instead, as always, jazzified and Elliottized it. Still, not one of my favorite Yamin presentations, but Simon delivered some moderate praise, which pleases me more.

Katharine: Kat was back on the floor again this week to deliver Simon’s choice Somewhere Over the Rainbow (has she been studying the old Fantasia Summertime video or something?), and I was feeling her pressure. Don't forget, she just squeaked by last Wednesday night, and tonight Simon was setting her up for either a grand triumph or dismal failure with this somewhat anthemic standard. The unfamiliar a capella intro was worrisome, but proved to be part of a buildup to a smashing and satisfying cresendo, which left all 3 judges cheering. Happy little bluebirds are singing; and somewhere, perhaps nowhere near a rainbow, Kimberly Locke is throwing something at her television.

Taylor: I was ready to dislike this one (You Are So Beautiful), expecting a shameless Joe Cocker impersonation [and Cocker himself was a living shameless Ray Charles impersonation]. Taylor surprised me again with a well Taylorized money-on version of his own, nuanced and powerful. I was happy to see him avoid the octave-up jump on the last note, which practically ruined the profoundly less sober cracked Cocker version. The judges are in love with Taylor again.

CONTESTANTS’ ROUND
Elliott: My man delivered a spirited version of I Believe To My Soul, a rather deservedly lesser-known Ray Charles song (the Donny Hathaway version), but for the first time in recent memory, I was not love-love-lovin' it. I was looking for a “blow 'em away” from Elliott, and this song and this performance was not the one to do it. Simon layed down a thinly-veiled prediction that Elliott will lose this week, but assured him that “Mum will be proud,” a Cowell way of politely saying "don't let the door bump your little bum on your way out, mate."

Katharine: Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues was delivered pretty solidly as far as I’m concerned, cute little black dress or no cute little black dress (and I would have preferred the latter). Oh no, not again -- Randy trotted out the “you aren’t good enough to sing an Ella song” monkeypoop. Where are those falling stage lights when you need them? Simon called her performance OK and said she had taken one step back after 5 steps forward. I've done the math and that's 4 steps forward, which is enough of a compliment for me.

Taylor: Dang him if he just didn’t go and pick the best song he could have possibly chosen to sing - the Otis Redding version of Try A Little Tenderness (a song that goes back further than Otis). And dang it if he didn’t just go and sing it perfectly, while looking snappy in a fine black suit and white shirt. And I don’t care what Simon said about the ending being “hideous,” the cameras could barely keep up with Taylor on this one as he worked that stage for all it was worth. The man was playing to win, and Simon ultimately hinted that he will get that chance next week (in his second thinly-veiled prediction of the evening). I'd like to take the opportunity here to give Otis Redding and this song props, and say that even Kevin Covais could have delivered a halfway satisfying version. Okay, forgive the hyperbole, but Otis Redding was good, that's all I'm saying.

Where does that leave us?
I think prediction is a fool’s game. Having said that, I am leaning toward agreeing with Simon Cowell, who now seems to think we are facing a Katharine vs. Taylor match next week. And may the best woman win.

We’re going to miss you, Elliott, and I mean that.