Rock Star:INXS

Tonight's Rock Star: INXS was interesting with the house band accompanied by a full orchestra with strings and horns as well as a gospel choir. Awesome, and the song choices for the most part fit that arrangement well.

Still, with 6 singers left, my wife and I both thought the talent was clearly (and evenly) split between good and bad.

Ty has been a favorite of mine for a few weeks, not cause I like him so much as because I think he has performed in a manner that will appeal to a very broad international audience. His version of No Woman No Cry was compelling and really showcased how well he would fit in with INXS. Since he grew up singing in a Choir as a child I had high hopes for his take on the Stone's You Can't Always Get What You Want. Sadly, they were dashed. His performance just struck me as awfully flat - both his signing and his interpretation. Midway through the song, my wife turned to me and said "this is a great gimmick to get people into a Stone's concert. I wish Mick was singing this instead." Couldn't agree more. Ty was clearly in the bottom three tonight, I'd say he was next to worse.

J.D. who looks like a New Kid On The Block was up next. Apparently, he used to be an Elvis impersonator or something, and it showed. He sang one of the great Elvis tunes - Suspicious Minds and my wife thought he looked just like Elvis. Except for the dumb hat. And the stupid tattoos. And the sophomoric punk rock jumping thing at the end. He sung the song well, but it just wasn't me. He's better than Ty but still in my bottom 3.

Marty has been leaps and bounds above most of the competition since the first week and his performance of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here was very well received in this All Pink Floyd All The Time house. Of course, it wasn't as good as Floyd, nor was it his best performance so far, but it was clearly in the Top 3 for me. INXS seemed to like it too.

I don't like Jordis. Her hair bothers me, the Whitney Houston touch bothers me, he smile bothers me. However, she took what is perhaps the biggest touchy feeley John Lennon Song ever, Imagine and really nailed it. Top 3 performance for her.

As much as I don't like Jordis, I really hate Mig. Something about his gets under my skin, but he is talented, sharp, and professional. His experience in the London Theater really pays off and his version of Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die was the most powerful of the evening. Outstanding, even if he is full of himself.

Suzie on the other hand absolutely sucked. I don't understand how the band was so enamored with her take (eer, bad copy) of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. From the first note her voice was breaking. She was off key, she couldn't hold a note (especially compared to MiG), and she did nothing to make the song her own, instead trying to copy its performance almost exactly (albeit with much less style, flair, grace, or talent than Freddie Mercury). She was the worst of the show and I just don't understand what the band saw in her.

And, what happened to Dave Navaro?? When did he decide to become Paula Abdul.

UPDATE: Chris Byrne appears to disagree with me on the performances, at least about Mig and Jordis, but also about Ty. To each their own. I agree with him about the Mig's stage vamping - like I said, I can't stand the guy - but hell can he scream. Forget Freddie Mercury, the guy holds a high note like Rob Halford. Speaking of which I agree with Chris that I can't believe he is straight.