The long-delayed debut from last season s American Idol runner-up is a feisty but failed attempt to position [Katharine] McPhee as the next Mariah Carey. The problem: Her flawless fairy-princess vocals don t really go with these bold, bottom-heavy tracks. For much of the CD, it sounds as if McPhee is holding on tighter than a bull rider.
The more balladic entries such as Home and Ordinary World (her most impressive vocal display) are more accommodating to her rangy but light voice. McPhee s first release is full of good material, smartly produced, but it never accomplishes the first imperative for an Idol alum: establishing a viable identity. (two and a half stars)
What s funny is that this girl from American Idol who many probably won t take seriously for years to come, showed up and outsang most of the pop and R B divas of today with halfway decent material.
Her voice has the soul of Kelly Clarkson, with a tone that could potentially rival the great Whitney Houston s (another track from the album, I Lost You , was originally recorded for Whitney s upcoming comeback album) with enough work, yet the emotion and phrasing of greats like Eva Cassidy and Barbra Streisand. She s got lightyears to go as a live performer, and it ll be interesting to see if she steps up the plate and really takes creative control on her next album with both a new direction and doing more of the writing herself. (three and a half out of five stars)
Whether she finished thirty-second or first, music executives would have no trouble selling Katharine McPhee.
And so comes the eponymous debut record - safe, predictable, unoriginal, but marketable in every sense. To give McPhee her due credit, she is a very good singer. But she s so unremarkable in every way, that she fails to put a stamp on any single track.
Any song here could be sung by Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Jojo, Nelly Furtado, insert pop singer here - and with much more distinction. Brooke Hogan could breathe more life into these songs. Instead, McPhee sings them, they come, they go, and nothing much comes of it McPhee s writers take no risks or chances, refuse to step outside of a vendible mold, and this is perhaps the worst part of the entire venture.
If they had attempted to piece together a record that didn t sound like a sorry little sister of everything that s selling at the moment, they would at least earn points for stepping outside of the box.
"Sundance got lots of airtime, but he's getting the Savol Edit which is the opposite of pimping. The whole artificial Tommy vs Sundance setup is a prime example- as though the judges went through all 40 contestants and the absolute last undecided slot for the guys came down to Tommy and Sundance, and they just *had* to choose between them.
It's " "What in the world is this girl [Leslie] doing on AI? She should have already had a record deal somewhere. Love her voice!
To me she is like a and my love for Lisa knows no bounds. Leslie is the only contestant I give a crap about this season so far and that means that she'll be out before the top 12." "I'm kind of on the fence with Chris.
I like his personality, but it might wear on me after a while, especially if the judges laugh at his jokes. From what I've heard so far, I don't think his voice is particularly special, but . Also, he has a more interesting range of musical tastes than most of this year's contestants (looks like it's going to be R B week every week, regardless of the actual genre, so Chris might bring a welcome change of pace).
" "I'm not that impressed with [Antonella's] singing. When her voice sounded nice, I thought her diction was poor, eg. in her group performance.
Although she was the best of the three of them, that was in comparison to Baylie, who was a trainwreck, and Amanda, who was Not Good. She was in The Chair episode." "With the success of people like Justin Timberlake, it wouldn't surprise me at all if this year turns out to be Blake Lewis.
There's a lot of money to be earned for TPTB if an actual "pop" performer wins this time.
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