It took seven seasons, but contestants on American Idol are finally being allowed to tackle the Lennon-McCartney catalog. Let’s give a hand to the shadowy, Michael-Jackson-affiliated legal entity that currently owns those publishing rights. And let’s, er, look forward to all the caterwauled Beatles covers this season (?) I dunno — I enjoy Idol plenty, and I’m all for artists putting their own spins on the Fab Four’s music, but somehow I just can’t get too excited about this. Much as I’d like to believe otherwise, there’s just no way this will lead to anything but painfully slick garbage assaulting my ears. Or is there?
To Care or Not to Care: The Beatles on 'Idol'
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Comments (1-30) of 35 Add your comment
I’m not a Beatles fan (I know, I know – the horror!), but it just screams of being a bad idea. The Beatles have some simpler melodies that might be within the contestants’ ranges, but really, other than David Archuleta, do we really want to hear all these kids butcher music that a lot of people hold dear?
Hey, we’ve had three movies in the past 30 years that have entirely covered Beatles songs. If we could survive them, why wouldn’t we make it through the “Idol” version, too?
Two seasons ago, I picked Elliott. He came in third. Last year, I picked Melinda, she came in third. This year I’m not watching. Every week I read about who butchered what, and I’m so glad to be free.
I was not happy to hear about this at all. I might have to skip that episode, I can’t take people butchering The Beatles library.
I think the picture you chose says it all. I think Jason Castro could do WONDERS with some of the Beatles songs. I’m putting in my requests now for his low-key, yet striking renditions of: Girl, In My Life, Norwegian Wood, Here Comes the Sun, Revolution 1 and Blackbird.
The Beatles are ridiculously outdated and in my opinion, overrated as well. I really think we could find a better way to challenge the contestents, especially after the schlock we have had to listen to these past two weeks. The 60’s and 70’s were a disaster, and this will be too.
Who’s best to tackle “Revolution No. 9/”???
The worst song in the Beatles’ catalogue beats the crap out of inane, banal tunes like “Hopelessly Devoted” and “Me and Mrs. Jones” every day of the week so I, for one, will savor every note from Lennon/McCartney, thank you very much!!!
I agree with Heather and Erika– let’s just let the Beatles songs lie, and tiptoe slowly past them. There is so much other available music to tackle that isn’t extreeeeemely overplayed. Moving on!!
I couldn’t be happier. Who can dispute the familiarity of the Beatles music, OR it’s melodic structure. And how can one possibly confine the genre? There is everything from the hardest edge to the softest ballads.
Jim
OK, I’ll admit, I grew up in the era, and I am older than the target audience. But….. I have had to slog through a night of Bon Jovi–and still enjoyed every song.
Feel free to disagree, but it will be VERY revealing, indeed.
Heather, I’m with you. I’m not a Beatles fan either. I’m 58 years old, and I do believe this will make the show dull and boring. Ok, everyone may have a Beatle song that they have memories to, but all in all they were not all that good. I believe that will be one show that I’ll skip also.
I dunno, I think I’m a little excited about this frankly because as much as I love The Beatles I think I love Beatles covers even more! (Am I in the minority here??)
Taylor Hicks sang “Something” 2 years ago—I guess George’s people okayed that one.
Since “Idol” (and karaoke night) singers generally get a better response when they perform a familiar song, certain songs are done to death. And there is a finite number of familiar songs. So it only makes sense to add these songs to the mix.
And if the producers could use this to get Paul (or even Ringo) to be part of the show this season, that would be HUGE!
This is disgusting. Why do shows like American Idol even exist?
If the guys sing Beatles songs, they run a huge risk. Only the girls should dare try it.
The picture says it all – Jason Castro could do some incredible, understated, appreciative Beatles covers. David Archuleta would be pitch-perfect. Other than that, it could be somewhat disastrous. But that says more about this year’s AI contestants than the Beatles’ music.
I am still waiting for Led Zep night. Now I wouldn’t miss a single minute of that. THe Beatles were great, but Zep was the best. I’d love to hear that David Archu–however you spell his last name sing Whole Lotta Love. Let’s Make it Happen!
This is only semi-related to topic, but…thread suggestion! We’ve seen the AI kids sing the 60’s and the 70’s, so it’s a fair bet to say they’re singing the 80’s next week. Let’s get a PopWatch thread suggesting songs for them! We could sure do a hell of a lot better than they’re doing for themselves…
David Archuleta has already done horrible things to a Lennon classic (I know many disagree, but “Imagine” is not a song you over-sing or make to sound schmaltzy). Since he got the ball rolling why let it continue to wreak havoc. The only person I could see doing the Beatles any justice is Brooke White.
David Archuleta has already done horrible things to a Lennon classic (I know many disagree, but “Imagine” is not a song you over-sing or make to sound schmaltzy). Since he got the ball rolling why let it continue to wreak havoc. The only person I could see doing the Beatles any justice is Brooke White.
Why should the Beatles be left alone to not have some of their songs permanently ruined? There are songs that I used to like, but now the only version(s) that are stuck in my head are those from AI. Hope this helps with the foreclosure on Neverland Ranch
I think there’s some potential here but agree it would make more sense for the women than the men. The Beatles catalog is so well known it’ll be impossible to perform their songs without drawing comparison. Good as the Idols are this year, it’s going to be hard to top the original when the original is considered a classic worldwide.
This is great news. There really are only a handful of Beatles songs that have been over-covered. For obvious reasons, I hope to hear songs with strong melodies that don’t rely too much on gorgeous vocal harmonies. Here are some songs I’d like to hear covered: Cry Baby Cry, For No One, Girl, Here, There and Everywhere, I’ll Be Back, In My Life, It’s Only Love, Julia, Michelle, Something, Things We Said Today, This Boy.
The fact that I even bothered to make this list shows how much I will be looking forward to this Beatles tune week. And I’m sure I’m not alone. Hearing even one great cover of a Beatles tune would be a really nice thing.
I personally do not want to hear Amanda screech her way through Helter Skelter, nor do I want to hear Danny sing I Want to Hold Your Hand…oh the horror.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
I’m going to ignore all negative comments about the Beatles because I can already feel my blood pressure rising. On topic, I think this could be cool if the contestants make really, really good choices. What I don’t want to hear is another cover of “Yesterday”, “Across the Universe” or heaven forbid “Hey Jude”. I hope they are smart enough to pick lesser know but still awesome songs.
John Lennon would have loved the idea. He was a huuuge fan of the Monkees! Its an awful idea in that we love the songs and “American Idol” sucks, but I really think John would have thought this was OK.
I’m a HUGE Beatles fan, and have been waiting for this day for years… that being said (and others have said this as well), I really really really hope that the contestants do try to pick some of the lesser-known Beatles songs. I could go the rest of my life and not hear “Yesterday” or “Hey Jude” or “The Long and Winding Road” ever again, and be just fine.
And I just realized those are all Paul songs… and I love the guy. Really, I do!
I’m glad that I stopped watching American Idol a few years ago because I don’t think I could stand watching a bunch of wannabe musicians butcher the Beatles catalog.
I love the Beatles & I think an Idol episode covering them could be fun. I don’t know, though. I find that I haven’t been as excited over the contestants on Idol lately. The last good group in my mind, was the Chris Daughtry season. Now seeing them sing Beatles songs would make me much more enthused. Oh well.