Apr 23 2008
The Goofy Conductor
Ryan, trying to be clever and give us a hint at this week's theme, waved a conductor's baton around like a goof while doing his introductions this week. The hint's not really that clever, considering this week's mentor is more a composer than a conductor.
Maestro!
This week's celebrity mentor is Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, the prolific and spectacularly successful musical theater composer. Apparently Lord Andrew was also a musical prodigy, having published his first piece of music at the tender age of nine, and he was already writing full musicals (with long time collaborator, lyricist Tim Rice) by 19. Of course, his most famous musical is
Phantom of the Opera. Lord Andrew flew the contestants out to Las Vegas to work with him this week and told all the contestants that his goal was to make his songs "work for [them]."
Tough Night
Ryan asked the judges, "from a producer's point of view," how the night would unfold. Randy noted that Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs are "tough" and that this would be the "toughest night of the competition." Paula, using no catch phrases this week (darn!), rambled about how she didn't know if "it was going to be any easier for those in the forefront." It's gonna be a tough night indeed - especially if you're trying to decipher "Paula-speak." Simon noted that the contestants should try to make their performances "memorable, but also contemporary."
Finding Her Niche
Syesha Mercado opened the show with "One Rock and Roll Too Many" which surprised Lord Andrew, but once he saw her "animated" version of the song, he gave his full approval. Syesha noted that she liked these types of songs because she enjoyed the theatrical aspect of it. Syesha really got into the song, giving an all-out performance complete with dance moves to fit the lyrics. Randy declared that it was her "best performance" and that she could be "a huge Broadway star." Paula said Syesha was in her "happy place" and she "brought the house down." Simon thought it was her "strongest performance" and "very sexy." He said she showed "some personality" for the first time in the competition, and he agreed with Randy that this was her niche.
Bad Trip Down "Memory" Lane
Jason, chatting with Ryan, admitted that he wasn't into musical theater, so he was completely unfamiliar with Lord Andrew's works. That became very obvious when Lord Andrew was trying to explain the background to Jason's song choice - "Memory." Lord Andrew noted that the song was written for an "old glamour puss cat" character, and Jason replied that he had no idea a cat was singing the song. The fact that the song comes from a Broadway musical entitled
Cats should have been your first clue, Jason. Jason sang the song in his rather low-key, laid back style, which doesn't fit the song at all. Randy termed the performance "a trainwreck." Paula noted that the song is intended for a "female power ballader," which Jason definitely wasn't. But then she declared that he was "wise" to choose the song (huh?) because it further identified Jason's "unique being as an artist." (Huh?!) Simon said that he suspected the performance was "the longest two minutes" of Jason's life and that he was "miserable" for much of it. Simon said it was clear Jason didn't want to sing the song and the performance reflected that. Ryan asked Simon how someone would vote for Jason after that performance, given the night's theme, to which Simon snapped that "it's a democracy, [they] can vote for whoever [they] like." What are you doing Ryan? Pandering for votes for Jason or further highlighting how disastrous that performance was? Either way, not helping!
