American Idol: Curious Bending of Song Selection Rules
There are nights when I'm not sure exactly why American Idol really has song selection rules since they never seem to be enforced. The rules for this week seemed easy enough. The contestants were required to perform one song from the year that they were born and one song that is currently in the top 10 of a Billboard chart. Simple and straightforward...hmm, no, not really.
My first questions arose when Elliott Yamin kicked off the show performing "On Broadway" from 1978. The first hit version of "On Broadway" came out way back in 1963 and was recorded by the Drifters. However, George Benson did record a version in 1978 that is now seen as definitive and Elliott's take on the song was closest to that of George Benson. So, ok, no real problem here.
Next, Paris Bennett came out to perform an entertaining rendition of Prince's massive hit single "Kiss." The only problem is Paris was born in 1988 and Prince's "Kiss" came out in 1986. Oh...but there was a top 40 hit version of "Kiss" by the Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones that was released in 1988. I guess that was the version she was covering even though Paris was all bubbly about doing a Prince song. Hmmm....
The rest of the evening sailed along and much of it was quite entertaining. Katharine McPhee appeared the most relaxed she has ever been on the show sitting on the floor singing KT Tunstall's fantastic first hit "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." Oh, and Taylor's performance of "Play That Funky Music" let his personality shine through particularly when he tried the "lie on your back and sing" trick. Then...the evening was ready to wind up and Taylor took the stage for his song from the current Billboard Top 10...the Beatles "Something." He explained that a Beatles album (the greatest hits collection 1) was in the top 10 of the Billboard Pop Catalog chart...so his song counted. Uh, ok...but if all of the contestants used that reasoning all of Johnny Cash's major hits, all of the Beatles' other #1 hits, Tim McGraw's first set of greatest hits, and AC/DC's Back in Black were eligible for selection...not to mention dozens of album tracks from the top 10 albums on Billboard's multiple album charts. Simon seemed just as confused about how a nearly 40 year old song made it into the "contemporary" portion of the evening as those of us watching at home.
The songs:
Birth Year Songs With Year of Release
- Paris Bennett - Kiss - 1988
- Chris Daughtry - Renegade - 1979
- Taylor Hicks - Play That Funky Music - 1976
- Katharine McPhee - Against All Odds - 1984
- Elliott Yamin - On Broadway - 1978
Current Chart Hits With Chart Named
- Paris Bennett - Be Without You - R&B/Hip Hop Singles
- Chris Daughtry - I Dare You - Mainstream Rock Tracks
- Taylor Hicks - Something - Pop Catalog Albums
- Katharine McPhee - Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - Adult Top 40 Singles
- Elliott Yamin - Home - Adult Contemporary Singles
Comments
For the most part, I agree with your review. The questioning of the year and placement of the songs as far as the charts go…well, Chris did get away with the Live version of Walk the Line (def not ’50’s style) and the RHCP version of Higher Ground for Stevie Wonder week(Stevie didn’t sing it that way). Kat was actually more worried about “sexing” it up with her second song choice, Chris was almost out of voice by his second choice. But then again, Chris is TCO so I guess he can get away with anything.
The songs were pulled straight from the Billboard lists. There were no constraints placed on the contestants other than 1) pick a song that was on the billboard charts your birth year and 2) pick a song that’s currently on the billboard charts. All of the contestants fulfilled that criteria.
I find the appearance of a Beatles song this week much less controversial than the appearance of a Live song on 1950s music week. Given that the producers have had Taylor change his song two times already, I’m just glad they didn’t make him switch again.
why was taylor not allowed to do try alittle tenderness for a love song which was perfect for him, yet chris could do a bryan adams song for a love song
Katherine was horrible. That dance on her knees and those fake expressions on her face were hideous. That woo-hoo song stunk. I hope they put the KAT out tonight. Kat’s singing stunk big time. It’s obvious Kat is desperate for votes and will do anything to get them. If she makes it to next week I’m sure she will sing her song while doing the splits with a smile on face. GMAB and gag me with a spoon.