Going into Carole King week on Idol, all of the pundits theorized that James Durbin, the rocker of Season 10, would be the most likely contestant to have a rough night. Carole King is a prolific songwriter, and many many artists have covered her music, but no hard rock or metal bands have done so apparently.
But the writers and bloggers underestimated this smart and savvy young man. James made some excellent decisions this week. First of all, he picked a song that fans on the americanidol.com forums requested that he sing: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." Second of all, either he or his peeps have been listening to and reading some of the criticims that viewers have been leveling against him, namely that he screams too much and that his vocals aren't good enough. He's also been accused of using too many props in order to distract people so they won't notice his sub-par singing.
So on Wednesday night, James Durbin took the stage armed with only two items: a guitar, and his voice.
If James had performed during the first or second week of Idol standing on stage with just a guitar, he might have been criticized for playing it too safe. But this way, after weeks of big production numbers and famous guitar and bass players joining him onstage, a stripped down performance was applauded as a nice change of pace. Especially because the song was not on anyone's radar except this unknown number of fans. And because James absolutely sold the performance with his charming personality and even more importantly, brilliant vocals. He sang the first verse acapella, and it was a goosebump-inducing Idol moment. His voice soared through the silent theatre, and by the second line, the audience could not contain themselves, and started screaming.
James knew he had to change things up again. He also knew he needed to change some minds, and hopefully make some new fans who would dial for him. He picked a song and a style that would appeal to a wider and more diverse Idol audience. But he also managed to stay true to himself by including some of his great high notes. Even though he stood behind a mic stand during the entire performance, he still connected with the audience, smiling and nodding. He was confident and relaxed and his vocals were spot on. For the next to last line, he sang, "You better love me...tomorrow!" and raised his arm in triumph.
So the rocker of season 10 took a Carole King song made famous in the 1960's by an R&B female group and turned it into a current-sounding pop/rock track.
All of the contestants did well on Wednesday night. Scotty sang right before James, and made a big impact on the audience with a romantic version of "You've Got a Friend." But it was quite evident that the Idol tide is turning in James' favor, at least for this week. James was the only contestant that was not criticized by Jimmy Iovine and guest mentor Babyface Edmunds, or shown struggling to sing his song correctly. In fact, Babyface said he was "blown away" when he heard James sing, and he and Jimmy gave James a "sitting ovation." Jimmy said the atmosphere in the rehearsal studio was "intense and exciting," and that moments like this were what made him get into the music business.
Jennifer loved the performance. She cheered and clapped and looked like she was going to stand up for him. She said he was the star of the night. Randy went even further and annointed James as the possible winner. At Ryan's insistance Randy left his chair to give James a hug. Actually, I think Ryan was urging James to give Randy a hug, but James's guitar was still hooked up and he was taking too long to untangle himself. :) The only downer was that Steven was uncharacteristically critical, saying that he liked the acapella opening, then didn't like it when the band kicked in, but then it "grew on him and he liked it." Luckily he spoke first, and his comments were then overshadowed by Jen and Randy's exuberance. James was emotional when they showed him backstage, as he dedicated the performance to his fiance Heidi, and said how much Randy's prediction meant to him.
I simply could not be any prouder of James. The song choice was delightfully unexpected, his singing was sensational, and his star quality was off the charts. Of course I'm nervous because there's a lot of pressure that comes with the label of "frontrunner." Sometimes the annointed one ends up winning the title, and sometimes not. Ruben did in season two, and Fantasia in season three. But Chris Daughtry came in fourth in season five, and Adam Lambert came in second in season eight. Of course I'm hopeful he will win, but right now my goal is for him to make it to the finale. And even more importantly, I so hope he has a successful career after Idol.
A Fan
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