‘Idol Live’ tour: scaled back but still pumping
Phillip Phillips did a five-song set, including "Supersition," "Nice & Slow," "Someone That I Used to Know," "Volcano" and "Home." CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
The “Idol” tour organizers, who saw the ratings of the show decline more than 25%, appeared to scale back their ambitions this summer.
At Gwinnett Arena last night, they used a slightly smaller arena configuration than in past years, reducing capacity by several hundred seats. The stage set up was one of the smallest I’ve ever seen for the show. The tour organizers seemed to skimp on lighting, keeping the stage very very dark, often placing the singers in shifty shadows. The show itself seemed a bit shorter than in the past: about two hours total, not counting intermission. And there were reports the contestants took a pay cut from season’s 10’s crew.
Yet the show sold out easily, which makes me think they left some money on the table. And clearly, this is a pretty talented crew that kept the pace brisk and the crowd on its feet for much of the time. Not surprisingly, Colton Dixon received a very loud response every time he popped up while DeAndre Brackensack wins hardest working, showing up 12 times on stage. (I laughed when Colton said, “It’s great to be in Phillips’ home town!” Distance between Duluth and Phillips’ hometown of Leesburg? 155 miles.)
Personally, I sat there feeling old because I’ve now attended the “Idol” tour every single year since 2002. That’s more than 24 hours of my life taken up watching this concert.
But I still enjoyed it. The set list was decidedly focused on more recent songs, at least more than I can ever recall before. Of the 31 tunes sung, 24 were released the past 10 years. The few older songs were mostly featured on “Idol” before, including a re-energized “Proud Mary” by Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” Pink, Bruno Mars and Adele were all represented twice. Last year, of the 34 songs sung, 21 were from the past decade.
Two artists from Georgia were featured: James Brown and Usher. And one former “Idol” got love from Hollie Cavanagh and Skylar Laine, who did a virtual note-for-note copy of Carrie Underwood’s “Undo It.” Colton received teacher’s pet award this year: he was the only non-winner to get a shot at singing his own song “Never Gone.” (Pia Toscano got that same shot last year. How did that turn out for her?)
Winner Phillip Phillips showed up just 20 minutes before the end of the program to sing five songs and the final group sing, The Wanted’s “Glad You Came.” What little time he had to vamp, he simply said he rode a horse for the first time yesterday and didn’t fall off. I’m glad to see his kidney surgery has recovered enough for him to do that.
Here are some more photos I took from last night. And if you want more, there’s a photo gallery from Robb Cohen here.
Colton Dixon was a fan favorite last night.
Colton Dixon reprised "Piano Man" from his "Idol" performance.
Deandre Brackensack kind of looks like he's looking at me here.
Watching Elise Testone last night reminded me how much she loved to do hand gestures illustrating whatever she was singing.
Erika Van Pelt: 1983 wants its hair and clothing back! When I saw her doing Pink's 'Glitter in the Air," I swore she had stepped out of a Bonnie Tyler video.
Another questionable outfit choice by Erika Van Pelt during the group sing of One Direction's big hit.
Heejun Han went classy during John Legend's 'Green Light."
Hollie Cavanagh made me realize that yes, I'm really tired of that Adele song "Rolling in the Deep," no matter how good it is.
Jessica Sanchez looks lovely as she sings some Beyonce.
Joshua Ledet's vibrant "Runaway Baby" was one of the highlights of the night.
Skylar Laine hits a high note during "Stay With Me."
Phillip works Gotye with Elise.
I was near the side of the stage so I couldn't get a good shot of Phillip facing me while singing. And he didn't move around the stage much at all. No surprise there.
Here’s Phillip singing “Home” last night:
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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74 comments Add your comment
Harriett
August 7th, 2012
10:23 am
I think Dan is right about Phillip and XF. He would have been considered boring by that standard, imo.
JTesla
August 7th, 2012
10:36 am
By XF standards 3 out of 4 judges would hate Phillip, Jessica, Hollie, and every other contestant.
Sam-A
August 7th, 2012
10:39 am
I just hope the girl gymnists get it together and do themselves proud – they’ve looked pretty glum that past couple weeks.
Deirdre: Did you see that Britain is calling our Sir Paul their lucky charm – he’s been to several events that a Brit won Gold – at one of them, when the person won, the whole audience broke out into “Hey Jude”, and Paul stood up and led them singing. Man, would I love to have been there!
Sam-A
August 7th, 2012
10:40 am
That should be “glum the last couple DAYS”
DanJ
August 7th, 2012
11:05 am
JTesla, I disagree with you about X-Factor hating Hollie & Jessica. Phillip probably so! His Thriller audition was horrible IMO. The bickering on XF doesn’t start until the final 12. The judges were in agreement during the audition when someone was good. Be it Melanie, Chris, Marcus, Drew etc. Once they have a dog in the fight is when the judges become bias!
The mentors/judges made some bad choices in who they kept is my main problem. Especially Simon. He should have kept IMO Melanie, Jazzlyn, Caitlin & Drew. LA Reid should have kept Brennin Hunt instead of Phillip Lomax, and Paula should have kept the two brothers. Their name escapes me now. The worst pick was Nicole keeping Dexter over Tiger Budbill! Horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mercedes S.
August 7th, 2012
11:09 am
DanJ, totally impressed with your memory. All that stayed in my brain about the Xfactor was: Paula, Simon, Horrible Host. Oh, and yes, the two snotty brats. And of course the predestined winner.
Mercedes S.
August 7th, 2012
11:11 am
Oh no, Marvin Hamlisch died. Only 68.
JTesla
August 7th, 2012
11:14 am
Just to clarify DanJ I was talking about the live show rounds. The rounds where only one judge will like a performance and the rest will hate on it. X-Factor has two people who on paper should be the best judges in all reality competition shows, but the format causes them to be some of the worst.
DanJ
August 7th, 2012
11:23 am
JTesla, I agree with you there. Simon and LA Reid do go overboard in their biased attacks! Kinda makes you wonder if they have a side bet on who wins or if it’s just ego driven competition between the two. Like two boys on a playground!
DanJ
August 7th, 2012
11:27 am
Mercedes, Marvin Hamlisch played at our local theater years ago and was entertaining. Also a great song writer. Sorry to hear of his passing.
Deirdre
August 7th, 2012
12:15 pm
RIP Marvin Hamlisch. The guy wrote lovely music.
Yes, the USA soccer team tried to give me heart failure yesterday. Thank you, Alex Morgan!
I’m surprised the UK isn’t requiring Sir Paul to be at all the events.
Re which show I’d want my kid to try-out for: all the shows give the contestant the most important thing and that is exposure. When picking Idol, my concern would be twofold. First, the way the show’s focus is maintained on the contestants. And second, that none of the judges has any kind of a stake in the outcome. Only AGT and Idol have judges who do not benefit in some way by the outcome and, as I said, AGT is too much of a circus for me to want my kid involved.
Deirdre
August 7th, 2012
12:23 pm
AI has just opened Online Auditions and Nominate a Friend.
If y’all know someone out there in the correct age range who would be great on AI…..nows your chance to throw their name in the ring.
G
August 7th, 2012
2:05 pm
I don’t see PP making shows like The Voice or XF. Actually, I don’t think he would’ve made it to the live shows, especially XF. Who would’ve picked him?
Jess and Josh would’ve been pretty good XF contestants, moreso than The Voice IMO. Elise and Hollie would’ve been fairly strong on Voice.
SN: Men’s soccer in the US can’t even hold toilet water. Our best athletes are knocking the door down to get into 3-4 sports. Soccer is not one of them. Guess it’s not cool enough for them by the time they get to high school.
JTesla
August 7th, 2012
2:30 pm
I don’t know, they kept homeless dude (Dexter) he was on about the same level as Phillip. Heck Phillip was better than that lady who cried all the time about just wanting one chance and she was on chance #3 or 4.
DanJ
August 7th, 2012
2:33 pm
I agree G that PP would not have turned any chairs around on The Voice if he had sang Thriller like he did on Idol. I thought it was horrible! Although I do like the song Home and if he sticks to those type songs he will make a lot of money.
I would have liked to seen what Jazzlyn Little from XF or Pip from The Voice would have done on Idol. I think Idol would have been a better choice for Pip not sure on Jazzlyn. I’d be willing to bet that Jazzlyn comes back to XF this season. I had her in my top 3 last year after auditions.
Harriett
August 7th, 2012
4:09 pm
Gotta run. See y’all tomorrow. Miss Rickster.
Mercedes S.
August 7th, 2012
6:06 pm
Forgot to ask my “Closer” compadres (commadres?): what did you think of the second- to- last show??
I loved it.
Seth T
August 7th, 2012
11:01 pm
Comparing the vocalist talent shows for a 17 year-old special talent – –
It’s true that,assuming they get at least 2 -3 “looks”/ performances in progressing on a show, that they would get exposure – and most of the people in the music industry are watching these shows.
So here, where will she get the most exposure? Which show has more people watching through the first 2 or 3 performances of a contestant? That can be a major point for marketability for a non-winner.
One positive for AGT is that if your talent wins, you (or the parents if under 18) get a million dollar check, and (as far as I know), you can still shop-around for a label that will negotiate with you on music rights, obligations, expenses, etc. — so you’re not automatically an “owned” artist. You do have a contract to honor, to do Vegas shows for a period of time I believe.
If one gets past the pre-auditions, the judges (with an ear to the producers) will be a big factor as they will be more inclined to “select and save” thier own personal preferences in music.
Let’s say she has a pretty good Pop voice, but can sing Country ballads beautifully. No stage fright in singing at events so far, but don’t know if she would stay cool in front of Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. Nick Jonas would not bother her, She saw Steven Tyler as more of a cartoon character than someone to be awed by. I doubt that she would be intimidated by L.A. Reid or Simon, but you never know unless the time comes. Simon can get pretty sarcastic at times.
If she got a choice, on The Voice, she’d probably go with Adam Levine. I’m not sure Xtina can be trusted to do what she says she will do, and she was turned-off about Blake’s comment of swerving to hit a turtle that made some of the music news. She has, a couple times at events however, sang “Forget You’ by Cee Lo.
Seth T
August 7th, 2012
11:24 pm
Yeah, X-Factor tried to use Dexter as the show clown, filming his side story and tears for a while, then booted him with a small check when the time came.
Tiger Budbill was a really good singer, but not the “package” they wanted – and he could have been a threat to some of the others in their cast, in live voting.
If Jazzlyn got going, she would probably have sent some of the others home earlier as well, and may have become a real challange to Melanie. . I would have voted for Caitlyn in the first round, just to see her one more time.
Vast Wastrel
August 7th, 2012
11:56 pm
Back from a quick trip to Charlotte and will now have to convince Accounting that driving was cheaper, quicker and more convenient than flying.
Better you than me Rodney. When Seth T put up the numbers for the beginning of the tour it appeared they were doing mostly theaters and not arenas like Gwinnett, arenas need more light. I would guess that some economizing is in effect as well since they have to drag them all over the country.
If I thought my kid could win it all the mercenary in me would want them to win X Factor for the 5 million guaranteed. Couldn’t handle watching it though for all of the bickering. If I want to watch that I’ll just go over to the in-laws.
JT – Even Leonard Cohen begged for a moratorium on Hallelujah and he’s the one that gets a check when they sing it.
Seth T
August 8th, 2012
1:53 am
I see that Khloe Kardashian is taking her screen test to become a possible host on X-Factor.
JTesla
August 8th, 2012
2:44 am
Khloe Kardashian, is that Sasquatch or the tiny one that keeps getting pregnant?
Deirdre
August 8th, 2012
7:53 am
Morning!
X-Factor begins on Sept. 11. And they are STILL looking for a host? I find that hard to believe, especially since most of the “contenders” that have been leaked already have a job….well, if you can call what any Kardashian does “a job”. Rehearsal time will be limited.
To me, this shows Simon’s disregard for what a host does. You’d think, after working with Ryan for 9 seasons, he would have figured out that a host can make or break a show…..heck, you’d think he would have figured that out after last season’s fiasco, otherwise known as RoboHost.
Deirdre
August 8th, 2012
8:25 am
New thread up. It looks like this thread but it isn’t.