American Idol Commentary - 3 Cardinal Rules

There are three cardinal rules for performing on American Idol

Rule #1 I always say don't sing songs past Idols have done, as it gives them reason to compare. This is, of course, unless you can back it up like Lakisha. She sang that as well as Jennifer. I cried when Jennifer sang it in Dreamgirls, and I cried when Lakisha sang it on the American Idol stage. Something tells me both of these girls mean it when they say And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going. Both sang not only with strength of voice, but strength in emotion. How does this girl slide by, singing in churches and working as a bank teller all this time. Is there no one in her church that could recognize her talent? Maybe they just didn't want to lose her. I don't know if she can back it up and sing in different genres every week, but my guess is she'll find a way. I predict she's safe until sometime in the finals.

The rulebreaker here is Leslie Hunt. Don't try to sing a song that Kelly Clarkson made people notice her with on season one. Unlike Lakisha, you do not have the chops to back this up. You didn't come close to Kelly, and even my 10 year daughter asked where the high note was. The answer is it was missing, as there is no way in hell Leslie could hit that, and she knew it. She went from no getting camera time to getting camera time and people wishing she hadn't. Simon completely garbled it up, but what he was trying to say was you don't look comfortable with this. It's not the type of thing you should be singing, and you know it. That's why you look uncomfortable.

Rule #2 Don't sing a big song by an artist known for their great singing, unless you can back it up. Melinda Doolittle, the former backup singer sang some Aretha, but backed it up. She showed last night that she has no business singing in the background with no one to see or hear her. This girl has something to say. The oddest thing is that when she's singing she seems to have all the confidence in the world, yet right before or after, she's so timid and unsure what people are going to think. In that way, she somewhat reminds me of Kelly Clarkson. By looking at her you could honestly tell she expected to go home every week, and was shocked when she'd stay. I see Melinda in kind of the same way.

One that broke that rule is Haley Scarnato. She's a great singer, and wow can she hold a note. But, she isn't Celine Dion. And you just can't help but compare when someone sings one of her songs. Melinda was so awesome, we forgot about comparing her to Aretha. With Haley, she hit enough clinkers that we compared her to Celine. What's more, we come to find out she sang it in Hollywood as well, so while it was enough to get her to final 24, it's not enough to keep her. She then says she doesn't want to change who she is. That's not who you are. That's who Celine Dion is.

Rule #3Don't sing a song just because you like to sing it in the car. It happened to work for Jordin Sparks. She likes to sing along with Tracey Chapman, plus, it's a good one for her big voice and the 17 year old 'tude thing she's got going on. The further she went with it, and the more the audience was obviously enjoying it, the more freedoms she took with the song, and the better it got. The song opened up her, and she opened up the song.

Antonella Barba tried that but it didn't work . When she auditioned with her best friend, she kept saying that Amanda was so much better than her, because she had the training. The judges then told her she was actually the better of the two. In Hollywood week, both she and Amanda turned into divas. And now, despite the fact she thinks she doesn't have enough training, she walks in thinking she's going to sing Aerosmith, yet put a bunch of fancy runs in there. When asked if she realized it was a risk, she said yes, but figured she had it in her. Lose the 'tude, Honey. It takes a big voice to sing that, and that's not you.

Another one to do this is Alaina Alexander singing Brass in Pocket because she's always like the song. I like it too, in fact it's one of my favorites, but I know I'm no Chrissie Hynde, so I'm not going to sing it. Any viewers of Friends out there will tell you that just as only Phoebe Buffet could sing Smelly Cat, only Chrissy Hynde can sing Brass in Pocket. She sounded terrible on this, and we know she has to have a good voice, or she wouldn't have made it this far. If she's lucky, she'll get another chance next week.

So those are the three cardinal rules. What kills me about it all is it won't be the last time they are broken. On the positive side, they won't be the last time someone dares to do it anyway and succeeds.

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