Well, just as I was making my family endure an escalating “Really?” tirade worthy of a Seth Myers-Amy Poehler Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment, along came My Girl Mathai to redirect my negative energy and focus it in a positive direction. This is what I’ve been waiting for – someone to get invested in and care about. When a young girl – or any age girl for that matter – comes out and sings Adele without singing like Adele, that boys and girls demands that we sit up and take notice. And, yes, it helps that she could not possibly be cuter.
My crack research staff[1] has learned that her first name is Sharon, i.e. she is Sharon Mathai, and my crack research staff loves that she uses her exotic sounding last name rather than go the more traditional first name route. I do grant that the first name route really only works if you have an exotic sounding first name like Cher, Madonna or Ray[2].
Moving from My Girl to the Diandra Has Heard of Them category, I was impressed with the also distinctively named Charlotte Sometimes who sang Apologize. Like My Girl Mathai, Charlotte covered a well-known song in a unique way. According to my crack research staff, the 411 on Charlotte is that her real name is Jessica Charlotte Poland; her stage name is taken from a children’s book; and she released an album in 2008 on a major label that received a nice review from Alternative Press magazine that Diandra thinks she still has.[3]
I also liked Jamie Lono who sang Folsom Prison Blues. But the guy who sang Queen; the guy who worked in Carson Daly’s band; and Anthony Evans, the son of well-known mega-church pastor Tony Evans didn’t deliver as much as I expected.
OK, my “Really?” tirade. The Voice is trying WAY too hard to build their brand as “the voice, the voice, and nothing but the voice and we have blind auditions to prove it.” They are dragging out way too many, uh, unusual looking people who simply can’t sing. This isn’t Idol where any delusional person can show up. The Voice has professional music talent scouts whose job it is to grant auditions to people who may have “the best voice in America.”
The self-described 300 lb. white guy who sings soul[4] – and managed to mangle Hall and Oates – was not credible and it’s inexplicable how any professional talent evaluator could have granted him an audition. And to let him tell his story of how this will finally be his chance to be evaluated on his voice rather than his appearance was awful. Why? BECAUSE HE CAN’T SING.
Really?
And, oh by the way, the “blind auditions” aren’t really blind. WE get to see them and eventually WE will be the ones who vote. Ten seasons of Idol have established that America votes with their eyes as much as their ears. Let’s not expect The Voice to be any different.
OK, I’m finished ranting. I do enjoy the show – especially now that I have My Girl Mathai who has my attention in a good way.[5]
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[1] Tonight, it was me.
[2] Actually, growing up I went by Raymon’ T which is way cool.
[3] One of many music magazines that show up in this house with regularity.
[4] I’m not mentioning his name. It’s the system I’m against and not him.
[5] Subject to change, of course. I am notoriously fickle about these things.
Idol Musings 