So on last night’s American Idol results show, Simon Cowell back-tracked on his stinging critique of Katharine McPhee’s, um, revealing Tuesday-night performance of ”I Have Nothing.” But after watching it back several times on my DVR, and listening to the MP3 posted at Rickey.org, I’m still finding her vocal awfully shrill (Exhibit A: that first ”my aaaarms” after the octave change), and in a few places, she’s noticeably short of breath and off-key (Exhibit B: ”I’ll never change…”). And don’t even get me started on the lameness of McPhee trotting out a tune that was covered in the finals of Idol’s second, third, and fourth seasons. Of course, the beauty of Idol (and of music in general) is that all of us can listen to the same thing and hear something different. So check out this here audio clip and decide for yourself.
Am I right, or do I need a new box of Q-Tips?
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Slezak, I usually respect you in your editorials but you’ve been after Kat since the beginning. You have never given her top spot on any idol performance even though she deserved it ten times over. If you want to bash go to a message board, because the majority of viewers called Fox (like Ryan announced if you were watching) and complained about the unfair criticism the judges gave to Kat’s exceptional performance. Now if she sucked and didn’t deserve an apology, why would the majority call in to complain? Maybe you’ll figure that out while you write an apology letter to Mandisa about that mean spirited letter earlier.
I don’t know what you have against Katharine. You continously go after her, way more than any of the other contestants. Give it up.
After hearing it again in the little clip last night I have to agree with Michael. She was very pitchy, and just generally off. I have loved Katherine from day 1 and just expected more from her this far in.
After listening again, I do believe she was unfairly judged. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as they made it seem. I hate the term “pitchy”. If you want pitch perfect performances by any singer you should upload their voices and play it on a sythesizer. Even the most accomplished singer will have small pitch problems. Also, the judges criticism of her performance was more severe than that of Kellie’s and we all know that Kellie’s performance sucked!
That being said, I definately think Katherine should avoid singing songs which require her to belt (e.g. Mariah, Xtina, Whitney and Kelly Clarkson songs). Her belt voice does not sound as nice as some of the other female singers. Her best vocal asset is her ability to blend her chest and head voice seamlessly and beautifully.
I’ve never caught McPheever. I admit that she’s very pretty – though her wardrobe choices are often, shall we say, questionable – and can sing reasonably well, but I find her very plastic and incessantly calculating. There doesn’t seem to be anything real about her.
And yes, the judges may have underrated her – somewhat – Tuesday night, but if so, they could use the adjustment after wildly overpraising her in the past.
Michael, i’m on board with William & Corran– i usually both enjoy and respect your oped work, but you’ve been harsh on Kat from day one and never give her any credit. when the judges say she was amazing, you say “she wasn’t that amazing,” and when they say she was bad, you say ” she was awful.” yet somehow you always manage to avoid saying anything truly scathing about the other “all star” contestants. for instance, i think Chris always sounds shouty, has never heard of breath support, and has all the emotional range of wet towl– yet you continually praise him. i think elliott’s vibrato is totally jank, whereas you’re in love. it’s just not very fair that you always rag on her when the other contestants lack as much, or more, polish than she does.
I don’t know. I thought she did crappy last night, but then listening to it again, I think she sounds pretty good.
However, I mentioned this on the message boards and I’ll say it again. I’m getting sick of Kat’s superiority complex. She gets a look of disbelief when she gets criticized.
As far as I’m concerned, this competition is Katharine’s to lose. Can we please remember that this is a non-pro doing a LIVE performance in front of tens of millions of people??? I’ve seen Whitney Houston perform that song live and, trust me, she didn’t hit it as perfectly as she did on the “Bodyguard” disc – nor nearly as well as Katharine did on Tuesday night. So IMHO Simon’s apology was absolutely warranted.
Katharine’s only real competition is Chris, who is also a joy to watch but appeals to a demographic that does not comprise the biggest part of the Idol audience.
If anybody here has some need to pick on an Idol contestant, why not the phony, overcalculated shuck-’n-jive of Taylor Hicks? (BTW, how come I’m the only one who seems to have noticed how PO’ed he looked last night?) Or maybe the ridiculously overpraised quavering of Elliot Yamin? And don’t even get me started on Paris Bennett, the show’s only remaining “uncomfortable to watch” munchkin oddity (since Kevin Covais got his one-way ticket to obscurity).
I’m going to have to agree with you on this one, Michael. I really want to like Katharine, I REALLY do. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and she seems pretty nice. However, for some reason she always leaves me cold. I just don’t feel anything from her performances like I did from Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, or J-Hud. I didn’t really feel much from Carrie either, but at least she could really sing without sounding shrill and screechy. Katharine has a tendency to oversing, and she is just very limited vocally. I will admit that she has a very nice falsetto, but I think it takes more that that to be the American Idol. She would have to follow in the footsteps of Kelly Clarkson, for goodness sake!
K, I definitely think Hat deserved an apology. But what really got me mad was that Simon pointed out to Kat that picking a Whitney song is like saying she’s as good as Whitney. I’ll give him that and agree that Kat wasn’t as good as Whitney. However, why didn’t he point out the same thing to Paris, who picked a Streisand song, and was definitely not as good as Streisand. For that, I think Kat deserved the apology, because they were definitely too harsh.
P.S. Stop bashing Kat, cuz I used to love reading ur TV Watches every Wedensday morning, but now I have to skip through most of it cuz I don’t really want to listen to you finding little things wrong with Kat’s performance just so you have something to complain about.
Yeha, and I just thought of something else. Last week, when all of the judges and everyone I spoke to agreed that Kat was complletely superior to all of the other contestants, u managed to pick Paris as the nights best. Hello, but it sounds to me like someone doesn’t want to put Kat’s face on the welcome page to this website, cuz he’s scared she might get more votes cuz of it. Seriously, I’m REALLY annoyed by the Kat bashing, and u gotta stop.
Kat was extremely pitchy. I dont think Kat has ever deserved top spot in any of her performances. Many of the Idol audience thinks kat is the next kelly clarkson/carrie underwood, thus they want Kat to win AI this season, but vocally Kelly + Carrie are 10x BETTER than katharine. At least kelly can actually hit those arethra notes and not sound as sharp/flat as Kat did singing those whitney houston notes.
PS. KAT IS OVERRATED!!
You’re right you’re right, you’re right, you’re right, you’re right.
I like Katharine a lot but she’s no Paris. Or Chris. Or Elliot. While I didn’t think her vocals the other night were awful, they weren’t awe-inspiring or anything. What bugged me actually was the performance; she just smiled, flashing her pearly whites through a song that’s designed to show a range of emotions like, you know, longing and stuff. But she was totally Underwooding it up with her toothpaste commercial delivery.
You need a new box of Q-tips. Aside from a few minor pitch issues, especially at the key change, she was spectacular. No one can sing like Whitney does (or did), but Kat did an admiral job. Next week, pick on someone else, please.
I like Katharine a lot but she’s no Paris. Or Chris. Or Elliot. While I didn’t think her vocals the other night were awful, they weren’t awe-inspiring or anything. What bugged me actually was the performance; she just smiled, flashing her pearly whites through a song that’s designed to show a range of emotions like, you know, longing and stuff. But she was totally Underwooding it up with her toothpaste commercial delivery.
First of all, picking a Whitney Houston song does not mean she thinks she’s as good as Whitney Houston. Besides, I find Whitney overrated. There are some much, much, MUCH better singers out there, like Celine Dion, Charlotte Church, Josh Groban, and Andrea Boccelli.
Secondly, most professional singers (including Whitney Houston) sound pitchier and even more out of breath than Katharine did.
Finally, even though the performance wasn’t flawless, it was pleasant (it was more pleasant to listen to the audio clip than to watch the video clip in Katharine wearing that hideous dress). She sings well, and the judges were way too harsh.
Simon was right in apologizing. Katharine sang well, and deserved to be judged accordingly. I have a feeling her awful taste in clothing may have made the judges cringe, and thus transfer their sartorial sentiments onto their opinions of her vocals.
I see a lot of jealousy on these boards about Katharine playing up her face to the camera. She is playing on cue on what the producers tell her to. And as for being arrogant and snobbish, where’s the proof? Oh right, I know, the fact that she is beautiful and plays up to the camera….right. And of course she is going to be disappointed when the judges give negative reviews, especially if they are uncalled for like the other night, because she is human after all, or are you putting kat above that? Seriously, look how ridiculous all of you kat bashers sound saying she is arrogant and snobbish when you don’t have concrete proof and do not even know her. I see a lot of insecurities come out from kat bashers and a lot of ridiculous jealousy. Singing is one thing, but attacking another person’s personality when you don’t know them is just mean spirited.
corran, shut up and stop haterizing on people who dont like kat. If you want proof of her arrogance, why dont u check on IDOLONFOX.COM in the contestants page, click on her pic and she talks about how the judges cut people because they were not so good looking. First of all, thats none of her business to talk about whether or not people get cut by their looks. Second, WHITNEY HAS NEVER SOUNDED AS PITCHY AS KAT DID…SO STOP USING THAT EXCUSE….U PEOPLE ARE TONE DEATH!
She didn’t deserve that apology. Simon, for some reason (her looks, maybe?) is completely bias. It was totally uncalled for.
Kat was just pointing out a truth and I give her merit for being true to her integrity and admitting that. The producers also probably have a say in who is going to go thru and they will pick the “good looking ones” instead of the fat, ugly, or boring contestants. How does that make her arrogant? I’m not haterizing (new word mate?) on people who hate Kat, I am just mistified by their lame excuses and accusations that cannot be thoroughly justified.
I will admit straight off the bat that I’m a fan of Katharine’s, and I’m also not an excellent judge of pitch, being not much of a singer myself. That said, I firmly believe all the detractors of her “I Have Nothing” are as off-base as they think she is off-pitch.
No, it was not her best performance–the biggest problem I had with it was that you could see her strain for effect, and it should look effortless. But vocally, it was very strong and did NOT deserve the abuse it has been getting.
And you know what? I liked her version BETTER than Whitney’s! WHITNEY was the one who oversang that song…heck, showing off was her stock in trade. I thought Kat made it hers, even if it wasn’t perfect. Your bias against Kat seems pretty clear, so I’d suggest something stronger than Q-tips. Try a fire hose.
Everyone but Chris did terrible, I really hope Elliot is next to go!!
NO NO NO! Get rid of the person with big hair, big mouth that can’t sing before you eliminate someone who has potential.
Simon has constantly been very critical of the contestants, often in quite a cruel way. Why should he on two different occasions change his comments about her and apologize to her when he doesn’t do that with the others? The comments were correct both times and the backtracking unbelievable and undeserved. I suspect that there is something going on here rather than Simon’s sudden desire to change his mind.
You’re wrong. It wasn’t her best performance, but it wasn’t awful. Randy’s critiques are pointless, Paula’s are ridiculous, but Simon’s hold weight with the audience. And he was downright mean when he said her singing that song said she thought she was better than Whitney Houston. He didn’t say that to Trenyce, Jennifer Hudson or Vonzell Solomon, and Kat definitely was stronger than Vonzell!!
Reading some of the posts here it always amazes me that people think the contestants can control how they’re portrayed on camera. Katharine has no control over the camera focusing on her face all the time. That doesn’t make her arrogant or cold. And honestly, you could tell how shocked she was at Simon’s diatribe on Tuesday night but she held her composure much better than others, without resorting to Kellie-like apologies or Ace-like playing to the audience.
Oh, and to Sam: do you remember when Simon praised Katharine’s performance of “The Voice Within” and then on Wednesday night totally backtracked and said it was awful? So this time he reversed himself the right way.
If you actually do listen to the audio from the show, things do sound better or worse than they do on TV.
To answer the question: yes. Simply yes.
Now I know that I’ve said in other popwatch blogs that I agree with everything Michael says … but not in this instance. I think Katherine is phenomenal. I would really like to know why everyone thinks she is so arrogant because I’ve been watching the same show all season and havent picked up on that. Maybe this week wasnt her best, but she was still much better than Paris and Elliott. By the by, Paris needs to stick with one look, because all this change just shows people that she has no idea who she is. At least all the other contestants stay true to who they are and dont shy away from that. And am I the only one who finds Elliott the most boring contestant? Sure, he has a great voice, but he has NO personality and I could never sit through a live performance of his because I would FALL ASLEEP. McFever, Chris, and Taylor have it all. I would be happy with any of them winning!
Slezak, you are always anti-Katharine. Why can’t you admit she’s the only one of the two girls that stands a chance of winning this thing? Plus, she’s insanely talented.
Yes, she deserved the apology.