songs of the day - 5.15.09: feeling good

I love American Idol. There, I said it. Most reality competition TV shows make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork, but American Idol holds a special place in my heart. Next week's Season 8 finale will include two of my favorite contestants of all time: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. In the four seasons I've watched, I'm pretty sure the talent has been the best this year. Adam Lambert is the cream of the crop and maybe the best contestant Idol has seen... ever. 

However, even though his mad vocal skills and emo hairdo are the bomb dot com, I think Adam's gotten a bit of unfair praise from the judges. Paula is unabashedly in his corner to win the whole shebang, and it seems new judge Kara Dioguardi has joined her. One of the songs Adam was heavily praised for (on Rat Pack week) was "Feeling Good," written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, and probably most famously performed by the great Nina Simone.

Adam pulled the wool over the Idol judges' eyes on this one. The judges gushed about his original rendition of the song, but really, it was a straight ripoff of the version performed by Muse on their album, Origin of Symmetry. Too bad the judges have such limited record collections; they've probably never even heard of Muse (Randy definitely would've dropped the name if he knew). It's a trick Lambert's been pulling all year, like on his rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" which sounded a heck of a lot like Gary Jules's version. David Cook copied covers regularly last year, as did Chris Daughtry in Season 5, and probably every other "rocker" on the show. (How do I know the judges have limited record collections? When Blake Lewis performed 311's "All Mixed Up," the judges revealed they had never heard of 311... uhh, WTF?)

But you know what? Who cares if he's covering covers? He sounds good. That's what counts in this competition. I don't really care if he wins or not. American Idol has a way of ruining talents by forcing them to put out terrible records, so I'm not holding my breath, but I have a sneaking suspicion and hope that Adam will transcend.

song of the day - 1.7.09: hallelujah

As I eagerly await the new American Idol season (yeah, I said it!), I've been reflecting on the highlights of last season. Besides lamenting the defeat of David Archuleta at the hands of the much less talented emo-comb-over-boy David Cook, the most memorable moment for me was when the goofy, dreadlocked Jason Castro sang a passable version of one of my favorite songs of all time, Hallelujah.

The song, originally written by the greatest Canadian ever, Leonard Cohen, has been covered by pretty much anyone who can carry a tune, from Imogen Heap to Bob Dylan (ok, Dylan can't really carry a tune, but you know what I mean). It was used in Shrek, Scrubs, Dateline, Third Watch, Basquiat, Without a Trace, and a whole bunch of other TV shows and movies, especially when someone has died.

Apparently Cohen wrote over 80 verses, most of which he scrapped, but about 15 of which are mixed and matched by the various cover artists in their attempts to bask in the light of someone else's masterpiece. Only a few of the verses are Biblical references. Other verses imply a more sexual meaning. Apparently, Jeff Buckley described his version as an homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm."

There's plenty of argument over who did the best cover of this song. I say it's Jeff Buckley. His version really is something of a spiritual experience. It's so moving and beautiful, I dare you to listen to it and not get goosebumps. Try it! John Cale did a great version too, and some say his is the version that everyone else bases their covers on, not Cohen's. I can see that. Rufus Wainwright does a great cover too. You can judge for yourself. I've posted 15 versions of Hallelujah here, and I dare you to listen to them all back to back. Ok don't, and definitely don't start with U2's version, because it's horrible.