It's been awhile since I've had an
American Idol post, no? Well, let's rectify that. Last night's theme was one close to my heart: Songs of Billy Joel. His greatest hits were the first CD I ever bought (along with the
Les Miserables soundtrack) and I wore that double-disk set out in high school. And then, as I got older, I started listening to the "deep cuts" and when I finally got to see him in concert, I knew the words to all the songs. So, yeah, he's seriously one of my all-time favorite artists and I'm a little protective of his catalog (even though he's obviously not, since he allowed the show access to his songs, but this is my blog post, not Billy Joel's, so there).
Full disclosure: I love "Piano Man." It's Billy Joel's most well-known hit, documenting one of the gigs he had before making it big, and I admire anyone who can sell that kind of a "story" song. It's also a great for a sing-along (ah, college)... when the focus isn't on one person trying to make a song "their own." Which is what Colton did last night and really kind of annoyed me.
This is not a song you can project yourself into. The characters are clearly defined and the experience is all Billy Joel's. To take it on as such and to praise it is arrogant or ignorant as all get-out. I wanted to shake the judges and the mentors to be like "Have you LISTENED to the lyrics? Is "John at the Bar" a friend of Colton who gets him his 'drinks for free?'" NO. Jesus, he's not even old enough to drink legally, let alone be bringing down the offbeat denizens of a piano bar with his masterpieces. You are not THE "Piano Man" merely because you can play the piano and move people, I'm sorry. There are so many non-totally-obviously biographical piano-based songs (Hi, "She's Only a Woman") he could've taken on that would've been ideal for the "moment" the show seems to feel the need to manufacture on a weekly basis these days. Which takes me to my next point.
I remember my favorite moments on the show: Kelly Clarkson's "Stuff Like That There," Fantasia's "Summertime," LaToya London's "Don't Rain on My Parade," Bo Bice's "In a Dream", Carrie Underwood's "Alone", Chris Daughtry's "Hemorrhage," Melinda Dolittle's "My Funny Valentine," Kris Allen's "Heartless". ALL of these performances didn't rely on crazy lighting schemes, background montages or dry ice to help hold the viewer's hand and out-right tell them that a "moment" was happening. The songs stood for themselves. Now? Forget it. It seems the second the producers sense a good performance is about to happen, they go all out to make it as theatrical as possible, an obvious ploy to be watercooler talk in the morning. It makes me wonder if they have any faith at all in their contestants to prove their worth organically, on their own, as SO MANY have done before them (i.e., it's not so impossible for such a thing to happen when you have talented people in your presence). It's sad.
Yes, I'm still watching this show, but the last few seasons have left me...meh. It just feels like the producers' fingerprints are all over this show now, and it's more about viewer manipulation than actually letting contestants do their thing, which is a shame.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go listen to some "Miami 2017". They sent the carrier up from Norfolk, and picked the Yankees up for free, people! Broke-ass New York in the 70s. Ahh.
