Australian Idol was back tonight with its wildcard show. But before the judges gave eight singers one more chance, it was time to announce two more finalists. Those lucky singers are Brooke Addamo and Madam Parker. Worthy contenders both. This is shaping up to be some top 12.
Amanda Grafanakis opened the show with the Tina Turner classic, “Simply The Best.” This was a zillion times better than the last time we saw her. Her voice still wasn’t all that strong, and it never will be. But the difference here was her performance. She gave it everything she had and it was a joy to watch. Some of the world’s coolest rock chicks haven’t got classically wonderful voices, so I think she’s definitely got potential.
Nicole Banks was up next with Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song.” I really enjoyed her last week, but I felt like this was a bit of a step backwards. She’s got a lovely sweet voice, but she does seem to have a problem delivering that and connecting to a lyric at the same time. She’s definitely got something, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t strong enough.
Luke Dickens showed his softer side with Robbie Williams’ “Angels.” He seemed to cop a bit of flack from the judging panels, which surprised my husband and I here at home. We really enjoyed it! I thought he brought a strength and masculinity to it that was lacking in the original. Clearly we aren’t Robbie fans.
I was thrilled to see Roshani Priddis up next, and to see how well she pulled off Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You.” This was the first star performance of the night for me. She ticked all the boxes: amazing voice, passionate and sincere delivery, engaged with the audience, entertained. Wow. She’s top 12 for sure.
James Spargo got a great Fathers’ Day present: a second chance to enter the top 12! Sadly I don’t think he made the most of it. He was a whole lot better than he performed last week, but I felt song choice let him down. Five for Fighting’s “Superman” is an amazing song, but the falsetto sections exposed all of James’ vocal weaknesses. It’s a shame. I still have a dirty big crush on him.
Brooke Schubert took on a massive song in Trisha Yearwood’s “How Do I Live,” and she won. I know what a hard song this is. I’ve been known to belt it out very badly in my car. So I take my hat off to her. She’s a beautiful girl and she presents herself so well! I’d also love to see her bring out some slide guitars if she gets another chance!
I was pretty psyched when I heard Jonny Taylor was singing Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Let Her Cry.” But I have to wonder whether my love for that song made me a little critical of his performance. I felt it started out quite weak vocally, but I concede that it did kick up a notch towards the end. I also think such powerful story songs like that are so hard to truncate to fit an Idol format. They seem to lose a lot of emotion in that condensed form, and for me this wasn’t as good as it should have been. Personally, I preferred “Hound Dog!”
Considering how disappointed I felt at Jonny Taylor’s performance, I was a little nervous when I heard Sophie Paterson was singing another of my favourite songs: Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” I didn’t need to stress. She did an amazing version of the song, stamping her own personality onto Jason’s amazing foundation. This is another girl who really needs to make the top 12.
I guess in light of what I’ve said already, it’s no surprise that I believe Roshani Priddis and Sophie Paterson will earn places in the top 12. Who’ll join them? It’s going to be tough. Some people didn’t perform to the potential they’ve shown throughout, others showed such amazing growth, it’s going to be really interesting to see what the judges decide to do. We’ll find out tomorrow as the Australian Idol top 12 is revealed!
Image source: Vivido @ Flickr