13:12: forgive me. i just have to comment on this. i’ve been watching american idol on star world (no spoilers, please). they just aired motown night and i expected 2, maybe 3 people to excel, and john stevens to bomb. i love john stevens. he is archie andrews personified and he’s got a nice cool, smooth tone in his voice, but that boy couldn’t sound black if you held a gun to his head. and indeed, he didn’t. he could have done worse, though. i think he picked a song that suited him well enough, and he almost got away with it. now, george huff... that guy has motown written all over him. i would love to hear him do a jimmy early song. he and fantasia (i’m beginning to think she can’t sing anything that i wouldn’t love, even her take on country was brilliant) were terrific, as expected. la toya ... she’s a bit too citylite/crossover-ish for me. classy pop-jazz-ish. not really my style. good, though. a lot of the other contestants were also good, but nothing great. the pinays were ok. jasmine trias did well vocally and performance-wise. she sounds a bit like christina aguilera when she brings the power out in her voice. not a lot of soul there, but good. the third contestant that i thought might do well singing motown was the other pinay, camile, as she has a great soulful vibe to her voice. she sang alright and looked pretty comfortable onstage this time around. she had a lot of energy and movement onstage, and she did pick a good song. it just wasn’t the best range for her. had she chosen jasmine’s song, or maybe “do you love me” instead, i have a feeling she would have done much, much better.
i’ve got a soft spot for camile velasco. not because she’s pinay. and not just because people insist that she looks a lot like someone very dear to me. not even because i love the quality of her voice. i like her coz she reminds me of myself. the insecurity, the rare smiles, the lack of power in her voice, even the waterworks. i know what it’s like to have directors and musical directors screaming at you to push your voice further, and have everyone tell you to just believe in yourself. in your head, you think “yeah, yeah yeah.” it’s tough, believe me. she’s got a lot of room for growth and i’m not sure if she can grow fast enough before the voting audience loses faith in her. sigh. i hope she does well.
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