Oh So NOW It's The Top Five Is It???

“The boat yeah you know she’s rockin’ it

And the truth well ya know there’s no stoppin’ it”

                --The White Stripes

I’m having trouble writing this today.  First things first, Jim brought up to me the fact that now that there IS actually a top 5, does that mean that the points and bonus points for what I thought were going to be the top 6 last week revert back to the original point scheme?   My initial response to Jim was ‘oh fuck I hadn’t even thought of that’, and so then I was pondering that and using that to procrastinate on actually putting this recap together.  In the end the ruling is easy – of course we revert back to the original rules.  The practical effect of this is a couple extra points for everyone with singers in the top 5 and a couple points deducted from Barry and the Ladies which doesn’t really matter in the long run with his last singer gone (except in what I’m sure is the Ed vs Gina home competition they must have going).   Ed, you should totally thank Jim for the three point loss.  

Six of the eight of us had India Carney as one of our three finalist bonus picks and she remains super nice so it is weird to me that she has taken the role of The One I Really Can’t Wait To See Go.  It isn’t her fault that she doesn’t show a lot of emotion as a performer but to be honest I don’t know if she even realizes it because it looks like she confuses technique with feeling.  I think she has the best voice in the competition.  I do not know proper singing technique but in my lay opinion she is close to impeccable in her vocal ability.  But without the emotion of a song it is just proficient instead of compelling.  She comes off as the opposite of a diva and while that can be refreshing it also points out that a diva-ish attitude is also one that feels things and maybe a barometer of what makes a compelling performer.

But what the fuck do I know because India is here and Kimberly is gone.  

Jim and I were chatting over email last week and in reference to my rant last week about songs that get sung season after season we traded a couple videos of songs we’d like to see, that in itself is not important but I called it out in my notes when Kimberly was going to sing Dirty Diana because DAMN I WAS EXCITED TO HEAR THAT and boy I loved her version of it and was super excited to tell you all THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT.  I loved everything about it and it was my favorite performance of the night and then she went home for it.   I didn’t love her choice of Free Fallin’ but I had her in my top three in both rounds.  I know nothing but I will miss her.

Might as well put my rankings down:

First Song	Second Song
Meghan – Steamroller Blues	Kimberly – Dirty Diana
Sawyer – Shine On	Meghan – Amazing Grace
Kimberly – Free Fallin’	Sawyer – Take Me to the River
Koryn – Everybody Hurts	Joshua – In My Life
Joshua -- Desire	Koryn – Dream On
India -- Glory	India – Lay Me Down

I have yet to find anything about Meghan that I would consider likable and even her appearance with her mom didn’t help because I didn’t find her mom very likable either.  Nevertheless I’ve become a big fan of her singing.  James Taylor wrote that first song?  Never would have guessed that, I should probably go listen to his version but I don’t know that I care that much.  Deb thought her first outfit was the best one they’ve had her in all year.

Deb was nowhere near as happy with Sawyer’s backup dancers, as a matter of fact her exact quote was “Oh my fucking god these dancers are a travesty!!”   He’s still my pick to win it all.  The way he phrases his lyrics is fascinating to me.  

I root for Koryn but I think she hit her peak a couple weeks ago and that her inexperience is showing more as the season progresses.  I was also trying to figure out whether her mom was a pushy backstage type or super supporting and lean towards the latter but you could probably talk me into the former if you were mean enough to want to.  That said both her performances mainly made me want to hear the originals again and reinforced my thought that no matter how I love the idea of Steven Tyler strapped onto a rocket into orbit I could never do that because he wrote Dream On which I’ve loved from the first time I heard it in 1974 or whenever it was.  Deb busted out her deep and sometimes hidden The Voice trivia by blurting out when Koryn said she was singing Dream On “DON’T DO THAT! You can’t do that better than Amanda Brown did!!!”  

And then there is Joshua.  I understood the idea of him having a backing band for the first song but then he just stood there not interacting like the Loneliest Lead Singer ever.  I was starting to get annoyed again right off the bat with the Beatles choice for the second song but ended up liking it so much more than I thought I would because as a (finally) happily married person I find joy in seeing other people who seem to be happily married, even if his wife is actually a monster for suggesting that Sting song last week. 

 

I believe there is only one scenario where Hummingbird Lightfoot does not come away with the TSAVFL trophy, and Debbie Eaglesong is the only team with the chance to catch him.  Second should be either Debbie Eaglesong or Sizzle & Fizzle and it’s a dogfight for third because then you have to throw in Fluffy Koalababy, Barry and the Ladies and Karaoke SongBookWorms as all having a chance!  Luckily last weekend was the real Walla Walla Whoopemup so Tim and I were able to commiserate about our destroyed dreams over a ton of alcohol which seems a fitting way to wrap up this week.

STANDINGS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO STILL DREAM ARE RIGHT HERE  

P.S.  I just saw that Gina’s blackboard saved India.  While dismayed at the outcome I am seriously impressed with the power of that blackboard.