[Harp-L] American "Idle"

["Rob Paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

       I saw some interesting posts with regards to having a contestant who blew some harp on "American Idol".
I hadn't seen the show all season so I decided tonite I would tune in to the 2 hour Finale (while I practiced my guitar,-)

    I must say I agree with Bobbie G. that some of of others were much better singers than the 2 finalist. I found I was more impressed with Taylor Hick's Blues Harp playin' than his singing. But I know it isn't fair for me to judge too much since I hadn't seen ANY of the previous shows this season. I really enjoyed hearing the "Bacharach" medley, too bad Taylor didn't play some chrom on 'Alfie', as they did it in the Stevie key of "Bb". Or how about some Stevie harp on "That's what friends are for"? To me, THAT would be great exposure for the harp on National TV as well. Taylor may have been more than a bit nervous tonite and that's understandable....I also immediately detected a warm and wonderful "stage presence" that he possessed that was pretty impressive in a young singer!.....I'm sorry tho, I didn't hear any Sam Cooke in there....

    They all did an admirable job, it's a shame that this country is so fascinated with COVER pop tunes done in a glorified Karaoke format. The European Version of "Idol" is The San Remo Song Festival, The artist has to WRITE and PERFORM their own tune, now that's pretty cool. Some famous songs have even come out of that yearly contest and gone on to become standards. 

    Anyway, I don't wanna sound too negative as they all did a fine job and it's nice to hear young singers of today tackle such great Pop Standards with a live orchestra....bravo! I could live without those 3 very lame judges but hey, that's show biz,-)!!

    I wish them all the best of luck and it was nice to see some prime time harp!,-) but I don't suspect I'll be tuning into to this show again for a long time.

all the best,
rob paparozzi