Elvis Idol

Elvis night on American Idol tonight, and I'm interested, if not wildly so. May get to see it, may not. In any case, the final four's song selections are below, for the curious:


(Spoiler Space?)

















Katharine McPhee: "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" and "Can't Help Falling in Love"
Aren't "Hound Dog" and "All Shook Up" different songs? Why combine them?? Still, the fun side she showed with the "Cherry in the Black Tree" song last week could work here. As for "Can't Help Falling in Love," it's a gorgeous song, but I fear she'll try to embroider it too much. Simple is better for this song.

(An aside: Bono sang a stellar cover of this song on the soundtrack to the film Honeymoon in Vegas. Over a very simple guitar accompaniment he sang the first verse in a deep bass voice, down at the bottom of his range; sang the second verse and bridge an octave up in his regular, tenor range; and sang the final verse another octave up, in an aching falsetto. Goose-bump inducing.)

Taylor Hicks: "Jailhouse Rock" and "In the Ghetto"
Solid picks both. This night is really in his wheelhouse, though, so he really has to do well.

Chris Daughtry: "Suspicious Minds" and "A Little Less Conversation"
"Minds" is a great song, and I'm curious to see how straight (or not) he does it. "Conversation," thanks to the remix from Lilo & Stitch can come across as a novelty number, an odd choice for Chris. I'm very curious to hear how these sound.

Elliot Yamin: "Trouble" and "If I Can Dream"
I don't recognize these songs by the titles. Hm.

Until Whenever