I think they are great choices and will showcase his rocking style and few of them will bring out the beauty of his voice. What I like about these songs is that they have not been over played through out AI's history (ok maybe the Stevie Wonder song is the exception) and with the right arrangement and his unique voice, they will sound fresh and current . They will also allow people to see his playing skills especially with the guitar and piano.
If you've visited the AI forums the consensus is that AI will do its best NOT to choose another WGWG (White Guy With a Guitar) which is exactly what the last 5 or 6 winners have been. Most are pulling for a girl this year. I've watched AI since the beginning and I can tell you the winners are the ones that make special moments with a song not necessarily the best vocalist. Weather they make an old song sound hip and cool or whether they do an amazing vocal...the audience still votes with their emotions...what the song does to them as it's being performed. I think Charlie has that potential to make special and unforgettable moments as he gains more confidence and experience. He has everything he needs to win this but he needs to get used to the live audience, calm his nerves, listen to the critiques and eat! Yes, I've read that his blood sugar was low due to not eating during his last performance. Tsk tsk tsk. Charlie please take care of yourself. :)
Ok here are my impressions of his AI considerations.
1. Tom Sawyer by Rush- Will fit his vocal range but not sure if it has wow moments. He's getting lots of requests for this song so maybe his fans can persuade him.
2. Love Reign on Me - The Who - Has a great piano intro and I can see Charlie really singing the heck out of the chorus part. He can definitely showcase the purity of his voice ala "Nature Boy"
3. Yes - Roundabaout - Could be a song to display his guitar talents. Great guitar riffs. This is a really fun song and I can see him having fun and rocking it on stage.
4. Down the Highway - Doobie Brothers - This is a great choice for AI. It's a well known song, it's very catchy, the kind of song that makes you get up and dance. I think he'll have a great time performing it.
5. Nature Boy - This is the song that in my opinion opened the doors for Charlie. It was almost hypnotic how beautiful he sang this. I think this song needs to be played again acoustically later on in the season. The way Charlie delivers this song is a thing of beauty.
6. All Along the Watchtower - Jimmy Hendrix. Well, now if you're going to sing a JH song and you can play the electric guitar, I say this is the song to do it with. Not sure if this song will display his upper registry enough, since I believe that's where the strength in his voice is .
7. Life on Mars -David Bowie. Now I understand the David Bowie comparison after listening to this song. I think it would be a great one. It's a beautiful song where he can again, showcase the purity of his voice.
8. Oh Darling - The Beatles. Love this song!! You really can't go wrong with a Beatles song in my opinion. I think this song will have a great start if he sings the beginning in Acapella - it's a great way to start with a dramatic touch. Love this verse: "When you told me you didn't need me anymore - A well you know I nearly broke down and cried" Charlie can use the power in his voice and really hit this out of the park.
9. Rock With You - Michael Jackson. I had a big smile when I saw that he included a goody by MJ. I think this can get the girls swooning, but I'm not sure if it has great vocal moments. And with AI girls having amazing vocals Charlie will have to impress every time he gets out there.
10. Don't Leave Me Now - Pink Floyd. This one puzzles me. It sounds a bit too dramatic for an 18 year old guy to sing. It has too many pauses in between each verse. I'm not sure if the public will connect to this song. Not my favorite so far.
11. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder. - Yes , I've said it was sung many times in AI but I think Charlie can really shine during the chorus part. Maybe this one can be played on the piano. Charlie I really really want to see you play the piano! I think he can a moment with this one.
The thing is, AI always has themes. I believe for the Top 20 rounds they can choose whatever they'd like, but after that, they begin with themes. If he can find a way to still sing any of these songs that fit with that week's theme, great, but you know... Also, they need to have permission to sing these songs, which I'm sure wouldn't be a problem, but yeah... Anyway, I think he can sing almost anything and he'd find a way to make it sound fresh and original (and beautiful of course). He has a stunning voice and a great level of musicianship, he can do almost anything.
ReplyDeleteI also hope the whole WGWG thing doesn't scare him out of playing his guitar at least once during the show. I'd really love to see him play and I also would like to see him play the piano as well. Hopefully he has learned from the last performance that he shines best when he just sings and doesn't try so hard with the performing aspect of it. All he has to do is stand there and open his mouth and people will be staring, performing would just be a nice plus, but not necessary for him.
But anyway, I am definitely curious to hear what he sings next, I think Tom Sawyer by Rush would be a nice choice for him.
I think he knows his voice pretty well based on his choices. The themes can box you sometimes but I think he listens to alot of different types of music. I was reading his tumblr and his interests are pretty diverse too. He also stated that he has aspergers. I wonder if this will affect the voting. He expressed that he was tired of watching what he wrote online or what he said, afraid of people misinterpreting him and that tumblr allowed him to post and say what ever he wanted. I wonder if he is feeling liberated somehow to say what he wants on stage? I know people are already complaining that he talks over the judges too much. How he adapts to this process will indeed be very interesting to watch. I believe in his talent, there's something about Charlie that is truly captivating. I hope this show helps him develop his artistry, hone his musical skills and still enjoy the whole process in the end.
ReplyDeleteI read that on his tumblr too and was really confused by it. On the show his mom said that he wasn't diagnosed with any specific social disorder. Since that post was written quite some months ago, I have to wonder if maybe his doctor originally thought he had Asperger's, then recently discovered he didn't have any specific disorder at all. If not, we're getting played by the whole "Charlie Askew Syndrome" thing. Truthfully, he really doesn't seem that socially awkward to me, he's strange and weird, for sure, but I wouldn't say he is socially awkward. Maybe it's because music has helped him to come out of his shell more.
DeleteThat could be the case too, that later he was diagnosed as just a unique individual. But you're right, the way he is able to banter with the judges doesn't tell me he is awkward socially, he almost does it like a season pro. I just watched the girls tonight, they were really good. Our boy has to bring his A game next time around. I think he needs to bring the rocker out along with the purity in his voice. And i'm serious about him eating! He had no food all day during his last performance, no wonder he was sick during the hollywood rounds. I feel like packing him a snack bag and FedExing to him, lol.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy but Zoanette KILLED it!!!!! I love her, she is so different, say what you want about her, but she is definitely memorable. Her voice reminds me a lot of throwback R&B singers like Aretha Franklin and I think in a few years she could be amazing. She has a huge voice but it's different from most R&B singers out there today. And her passion was so raw and real. I am honestly really hoping for a Charlie vs. Zoanette finale, that would be the most fun, funny, and interesting finale Idol has ever had, but I doubt it will happen. :-( I also really liked Candice. I agreed with all of their picks except Aubrey and Breanna- I would have put in Rachel and maybe Juliana.
DeleteYeah, to be honest, Charlie kind of scraped by to the Top 20 by his teeth- I think the judges know he has a large fanbase and they need those viewers/votes. I think he has learned to eat after that last performance. XD I could never figure out what exactly his "illness" was in Hollywood Week. Actually, he seemed fine for the first and last rounds, it was only the morning of the group round he was sick. He just said "I'm trying to get it all out of my system..." I don't know if that meant puking or diarreah, or what.... Maybe it's better not to know... ;-) Whatever it was, he did amazing anyway. Next time I think he could focus more on vocals (he needs to prove he can really sing because many people think he can't just because of this one performance) and needs to focus less on the performing. I'm curious to see what song he chooses, Rush would be great, but like you said, he needs something to really make his voice shine. A Queen song or Nature Boy would be amazing!
Another thing I have always wondered about Charlie is, if he is from Arkansas, why doesn't he have an accent? Unless, maybe because he is from the city, maybe not all parts of Arkansas have accents? ........ He truly is Mystery Man lol
ReplyDeleteHmmm, well Clinton was from Arkansas, don't recall an accent on him. I have no idea! lol. Oh good I'm glad you like Zoanette. I loved her performance. She has a great voice for salsa music, i swear i was listening to Celia Cruz. People with their favorites are dogging her but I give credit where credit is due and she was fantastic. I actually wanted Juliana and Melinda and both got voted out. Shows you how much i know!
ReplyDeleteYes, Charlie needs to take a chill pill literally and just sing from the heart. TOns of peeps have changed their minds about Zoanette and Charlie is capable of doing the same thing.
On another note, mjs released the spoiler list for tonight. Idolforums is saying how AI wants a girl so bad that they made sure not to have a WGWG left. Just for that I want Charlie to come out and rock the hell out of his electric guitar, ok?? Like with light effects and smoke and audience diving! LOL Ok we can do without the diving (but knowing Charlie, who knows!) Charlie needs to show them who's boss when it comes to playing instruments! Another thing they're saying is that there is a good amount of AA contestants who will split their vote leaving us with Kree or Angie for the win. Funny how they can predict so much with not one public voting round!
ReplyDeleteOkay there are some really talented girls this year but... come on, Charlie deserves it! I hate that the one year a guy really deserves to win (and there are also some other really talented guys like Lazaro and Devin), they probably won't. Angela is a talented vocalist but... first off, there is nothing about her that makes her an "Idol." And she is beginning to get on my nerves with the overly sweet and bubbly Miley Cyrus-like personality. When they push a contestant too far, it usually turns people off. They are digging their own graves at this point. I'm sure there are at least one or 2 other guys there who play the guitar, or at least some instrument. The WGWG comparison is just a sorry excuse for why 5 males have won in a row- but in truth each artist is totally different from one another, especially Scotty who is a country singer and rarely even plays his guitar...
DeleteI mentioned before that I hope the WGWG thing doesn't scare Charlie out of playing, I'd at least love to hear him play piano. In the end, I don't think people care if a white guy is playing the guitar, if it's good, it's good. Better than watching some boring generic R&B singer like Aubrey...
I predict Angela might make it to the Top 5, I don't know about Kree. She isn't as commercially appealing as someone like Angela. The only girl I will accept winning over Charlie is Zoanette because she at least has a quality about her that makes her an Idol and she is different and unique. Idol had their chances for a female winner last season with Jessica Sanchez (who pretty much blows any of these girls out of the water) and they blew it so... serves them right if another guy wins. And honestly, if Jessica Freaking Sanchez (aka Beyonce v 2.0) couldn't beat Phillip Phillips who didn't have the best voice to begin with and half-assed nearly all of his performances, how will any of these girls win? It's laughable really.
Well looks like Kree and Angela are here to stay. They are getting a lot traffic on the boards. Not sure if that is a great indicator. Angie's video chats were a bit too sugary for me too. I only liked her original song but that's about it. I actually like Kree but she needs some energy to her performances. She has a very sad story, and it shows in her eyes. Needs to shake up a bit and liven up.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it would be sad if a guy didn't win if he deserved it due to show pimpage. And they sure know how to do it too. It's very transparent. They feed little lines to talk shows only showcasing one or two contestants and funny enough at least one of those 2 end up on the finals. So gotta watch for the media pimpage to start soon.
I think guys winning is due to fangirlyness. Girls just want to swoon over the cute guy and if he has talent he has the edge. They think that because Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are winning Grammys and earning more money than that's it, it has to be a girl this year. Well, Kelly is fierce when it comes to writing music. She sleeps eats and dreams about writing music. She's non stop at it. Then Carrie ended up being the 1st to win in Country and so since AI didn't have much writers for country they happened to surround her with really talented writers from Nashville who gave her the hits of her 1st album. Really , the one that makes a buck after AI is the one with great songs because AI does promote the winner.
I think Charlie could come up with his own material and get hits. But we shall see how he does first. He needs to make that top 10.
OAN. Looks like Charlie likes Janelle. :) He is asking everyone on his facebook to like her page, calling her pretty too. Awwww. He's such a cutie pie. Just love him!
I don't think that's him- it's just run by some fan that apparently is obsessed with Janelle. XD In fact, he rarely seems to tweet or post even on his personal Facebook account. He is a very private and introverted person, so it makes sense I guess. And usually his Tumblr posts are just rebloggings. I wish he'd tweet and communicate with his fans more, but I can understand if he doesn't because of his shyness and all.
DeleteI don't think their vying for a female winner has much to do with Kelly/Carrie- it's the fact they're getting a lot of backlash for supposed "favoritism" towards males and making it impossible for a female to win. And of course their ratings have gone down.
I'm sure Charlie is a great composer (he has a few songs up on his Soundcloud and YouTube) but as far as writing songs with lyrics and especially HIT songs... we'd have to see if he's even written anything close to that. No doubt he'll contribute to his record when he makes one, but I'm sure he'd probably need some help from professional songwriters, at least for his first album.
Not him? Well that's sad, since most comments believe it's him. I hope he tweets a bit more though. He needs to get votes any way he can.
ReplyDeleteHe most definitely needs help with hit songs. I hope he finishes at least top 3 so he can get a record deal. His voice is unique, don't really think he sounds like Freddy Mercury. He has his own sound in my opinion.
You're right, he doesn't sound exactly like Freddie, but he definitely has that same kind of tone, especially when he sings a Queen song. I think Keith described his voice perfectly when he said it's not of a gender. His voice is very simple and pure, but beautiful. It would be interesting to hear how he sounds some years from now, when he is much older. Right now his voice is perfect because he is young and looks even younger than he actually is, like his voice perfectly complements his sweet little face. XD I totally agree with Nicki when she said you just wanna hold him in your arms. I always read Lyndsey Parker's Reality Rocks blog on Yahoo and the Day After videos and the one after Hollywood Week group rounds she was like "When Charlie Askew is sick you bring him some chicken soup and you tuck him into bed and you treat him like the nice little boy that he is. Do not be mean to Charlie Askew (in reference to Curtis blowing him off when he was sick)." Hahah it's so true!
DeleteI really hope if and when Charlie makes his first album that he gets the right people around him. I can picture him doing a classic rock record- he needs people who know the sounds of Queen, Elton John, Pink Floyd, etc., basically all the singers Charlie likes, to help him capture that same sound. I don't want him to turn into another cookie cutter pop act. Even Phillip sort of fell into that generic rock trap on his debut, the only good songs he has are Home and Hazel- the rest felt pretty generic for me. And 3rd place would give him more time to work on his album, he wouldn't be tied to an Idol contract (I think the winner and runner up are bound by an Idol contract for 5 years after the finale) and he wouldn't be pressured to work on it while doing the tour. Charlie doesn't seem like the kind of artist who can be rushed and I have never liked that they've done that to their winners/runner ups- a lot of the time they just get a team of songwriters to pitch them songs and they throw it together in 5-6 months with little creative input. As much as I would love for Charlie to win, it wouldn't be worth it if his album turned out like crap. Third place would be fine by me, with Lazaro winning. He has the voice, looks (in a more conventional sort of way than Charlie), the story, and he seems more moldable than Charlie.
lol, How can anyone be mean to Charlie I askew?? Not only do you bring him chicken soup, but you read him a bedtime story and throw in a lullaby for good measure. :D Last night, when all the top 20 were hugging each other no one was approaching Charlie. I was about throw myself into my TV to hold him and tell him we LOVE HIM!! lol.
ReplyDeleteYup I agree they are bound to a contract with executives that manage to mostly ruin a good thing. But they market you and get your song played on the radio. Of course there are some rising stars that started in youtube but is always nice when they do alot of the exposure for you. I remember Lee Dewyze got so screwed because AI didn't even manage to get him a new single. Instead they threw him a Bono song that was still being played in some stations. So he got no radio play and his album tanked. Phillip was at least lucky enough to have that one hit song. I don't know much about his album but Home definitely became a big hit, played even in the Olympics and natural disaster videos.
Yup i can't see Charlie being rushed either. But I do like his soundcloud stuff, hopefully he can make it work even with a fast patched up album. I just love his voice, anything will do for me.
Hahaha agree- even though I'm only about 1.5 years older than Charlie, I always call him my "little man." XD I noticed him standing around awkwardly while everyone was hugging but well he IS socially awkward hahaha I saw Nick (I think it was him) hugging him a lot though. Charlie seems to have actually made a lot of good friends, I think he was just being his usual awkward self. XD
DeleteLee DeWyze was my favorite in Season 9. I don't know if you followed his career or not, but yeah RCA really screwed him (more than their other artists). First they gave him a cover song as his coronation single.... then they only put out 2 singles and 1 music video from his debut album (which is actually a pretty good album). They hardly gave him any promo and he did a small college tour. And of course they unsurprisingly dropped him when his album didn't sell...
I agree- I'll be happy with pretty much anything Charlie does because I just love his voice and his personality. Just letting him do things his own way and have as much time as he needs would be even better. I'm still waiting for an AI winner to share writing credits on EVERY song on their debut album. Lee wrote every song on his album except 1 and I think there were at least 1 or 2 songs that Phillip didn't write on his.
Oh yay, glad you are a Lee Dewyze fan. I went to the AI concert and waited afterwards. It was like midnight 100 degrees but I didn't care. I saw him face to face, I could even see the tiny freckles on his face. He was adorable and very sweet to all the fans. Honestly I was inlove with his voice. Yeah RCA doesn't like to lose control, they want their proven songs as they send them out for testing through various sites. I don't know if the distraction of Simon leaving left them without a plan for Lee but I hope he can still make it, he's too talented.
ReplyDeleteCharlie can sing Mary had a little lamb and I would be happy. :) He does inspire tender motherly feelings. Just does. And I'm glad Nick heard my plea last night and hugged him the way I wanted to. :)
I used to LOVE Lee, he was the first AI contestant I ever voted for and I was obsessed with all things Lee, I even have his previous 2 albums he did before Idol. He's previewed a couple songs from his new album but I found it rather disappointing- the problem I've found with him is that all his songs sound the same. He is a great lyric writer but not very diverse with his melodies. Live It Up was a great album but I have the feeling it was too poppy for his style. Once his new album comes out I will take a listen but if it all sounds the same and boring acoustic ballads, I might be done with him.
DeleteOh that's too bad. Well, let's give the ol boy a chance and check his new album when ready. Maybe falling in love and marriage has inspired him. :)
ReplyDelete