We totally enjoyed this year’s Idols Live show this week. We went after Season 4 finished (cuz I just had to see Constantine!!) and while it was good, this year was GREAT. What you are dying to know, but too afraid to ask:
Yes, Haley wore every single skirt way too short, Sanjaya had multiple hairdo’s throughout the evening (but no ponyhawk, thank goodness), and Blake beatboxed. But what surprised me? Well, for starters, Chris Richardson beatboxed, too! And played drums! Quite good at both. In fact, this is a very musical bunch…Jordin, Blake, and Chris Sligh all accompanied themselves on guitar while Phil Stacey played keyboards, and I spotted Sligh at least one other time in the background playing guitar while someone else sang, which was cool. I was also surprised at how good everyone was….no duds in this bunch. And a (surprise?) marriage proposal on stage from hometown Gina's boyfriend was a special moment shared with 20,000 new friends!
The show was way longer than in ’05 (almost 3 hours with a 20 minute intermission) and included songs done on the show, of course, but also lots of new ones…whereas in ’05 the Idols basically did what they had already done on the show and in predictable order (10th place, 9th place…..winner, etc.) This year, it was all over the place, with different people paired up for different songs, in no particular order. The songs, too, spanned multiple decades with classics from Motown, Michael Jackson (that was Sanjaya) and of course, Bon Jovi but also contemporary songs I didn’t know and had to consult the 10 year old I went with! LOL!! So a delightful mixed-bag of tunes. The pace was quick, with little time between songs, which kept everyone hopping. Personal favs were LaKisha's "I Will Always Love You", that Whitney classic she could have never sang on the show because Simon would have eaten her alive, but was delivered perfectly here...and everything Melinda sang.
Jordin was pretty much absent from the first three-quarters of the show (other than the opening number). I read that Carrie Underwood spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between the concert tour and LA to record her debut album, so I figure this is what Jordin is doing..... but she appeared near the end to do a mini-set of 4 or 5 songs, ending with her winning song, “This Is My Now” – not necessarily a fav tune of mine, but hey – it does fit the chick. And since her hair was straight for the opening number but curly at the end, I think that 2 hours must have been spent shampooing. (grin)
Finally, while it’s not really my “thing”, I must mention that the costumes, lighting and stage setup were far superior to the 2005 show. This year’s production included video footage of this season’s show, including performance highs and audition lows, which still brought a chuckle. Cheesy, yes , but it served as a reminder of just how far we've come!
The stage sprawled the width of the floor, and included catwalks on either side to permit the Idols a quick handshake or photo op with fans lucky enough to be down front. And the crowd? We were in good company with lots of parents and kids….we left with t-shirt in hand and memories of a pretty good season!
You can read the Chicago Tribune's review of the show
here !
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