A series of posts from the American Idol forums:
James Does Not Have A Pitch Problem
I can't take it any more. James does not have a pitch problem. Has he ever been pitchy, yes- in a rocker sort of way but very seldom! I have been a performer most of my life singing as a member of a popular 60's girl group, musical theater, acapella choral groups, recital work and opera lead roles. I have performed with some extraordinary singers. James is one of the most naturally gifted singers/ performers I have had the privilege to watch. Now as a vocal coach/teacher and founder/director of an opera company it is my job to audition and choose the most talented singers. I will not hire singers with true pitch issues. James has extraordinary pitch. I am not sure if he has perfect pitch or just really good relative pitch. That was clearly shown when he sang the acapella beginning to Will You Still Love ME Tommorrow. He had to end the acapella section on exactly the same pitch that began the band's entrance. He was spot on. A REALLY RISKY move that really paid off. Someone with a pitch problem could NEVER do that! He can sing dramatically as well as produce beautiful lyrical , tender tones .Let's address the rocker scream as well. As someone who was born at the time that rock and roll was born , I can tell you that all rockers have their own version of that scream of rasp. It is a characteristic of the genre. James' so called scream as well as his range are amazing. He is singing full voice- not falsetto up to a soprano high A( end of his duet with Jacob) I do not personally know any other tenors wo can do that. He has such a strong core to support both his sound and range. He could never move on stage as he does and sing to such heights - in tune I might add- if were not so. Such a strong core also allows him to have a completely open throat- no restrictions or manipulations to try to produce his sound. Uprising was a great operatic arrangement. He had to work very hard to support that powerful driving melodic line as well as all the repetitive notes on the same pitch- very difficult to pull off! He is simply awesome. The judges and producers of the show have been working with him for months now and they obviously know they have been given a gifted performer/singer in James. What a pleasure it must be for them all. If they say he is amazing it is because he is. Lauren , Scotty and Haley are to be commended as well. They are all very brave to put themselves out there at such a young age, and all have so much to offer but as Jimmy said it is time to compare them one to the other. James is simply in a league of his own!!
The Essence of James
I wrote a post this weekend entitled "James Does Not Have A Pitch Problem". In it I address his extraordinary vocal and performance skills and his musical style. But in this post I want to address the essence of James- - The part of him that seals the deal! Jennifer expressed it so well the day he auditioned......" You go away when you sing...... you sing from where you are supposed to sing from, from heart, and from the need to feel and make others feel". What separates James from the others is that they sing the music , but in James' case the music sings him. That is why he is so careful to choose a song with which he can deeply connect When he feels that connection the music reaches deep down within him and pulls up and out the essence of him in every note he sings whether it be a ballad or high energy rock. The sound just flows out of him effortlessly and uninhibited- sometimes like a gentle brook and other times like a turbulent sea. I have watched "Without You" over and over again . I think it may be a performance of a lifetime for him and for us ( There will be many more to come) . Unleashing the floodgates of emotion opened a window into his soul- a rare visceral glimpse so deep, so raw! I can't imagine what it must have felt like to experience that live! Thank you James for allowing us in. We are forever blessed and grateful to know you! We hope you are the last man standing, but know that you are already a winner in every way that counts!!
I Rest My Case
This past weekend I wrote 2 posts : In " James Does Not Have A Pitch Problem" I make the case for James' extraordinary vocal and performance skills; in the "Essence Of James" I make the case for the qualities that seal the deal for him i.e.- " The music sings him". Well, ladies and gentlemen after two 10+ performances last night I rest my case. James was on fire and gave a Masters Class on vocals,performance and creativity in making a song your own. There was passion, power, tremendous core strenght to support the high energy movement, confidence, connection to the audience, audience participation, and superb vocals that were pitch perfect.When he ended DSB on the high E, I jumped out of my chair yelling " No way, no freakin' way you just sang that" . He soared to it so effortlessly. It was pure, clear , pitch perfect and ringing with beautiful overtones( vibrations that give the tone color) You really have no idea how few tenors are capable of that!. He really did the song and Steve Perry proud! Perry would not have given James permission to sing this song if he did not feel he was capable of performing it to his satisfaction. I was blown away by Love Potion. My reaction to this choice of song was exactly like Jennifer's , but he is a master at making a song, any song his own. It was awesome and there was a nice tribute to Robert Plant with the vocals at the end and more superbly sung high Es to finish!! Be still my heart!!I am so proud of you James. You delivered and left everything on the stage once again.
There is one more point I wish to cover before closing. I have noticed some disturbing comments about James and the praise that the judges and producers are giving him. This is not about bias towards him; this is about the truth concerning him. All 3 judges, music producers , arrangers, vocal coaches, etc. are immersed in the music business every day. They see it all - the good , the bad, and the ugly( performance). They work with the mediocre, with best, and best of the best. When "BabyFace" says he was blown away by James that was a very sincere reaction. It speaks volumes. They all know what they know,what they have observed these past few months and believe me I am sure they are holding back alot more that could be said about James. But to read posts that try to diminish and hurt on James in an attempt to raise someone else up brings up another point. We are not all equally gifted in all things, and for the judges, producers or anyone connected to the show to try to diminish James in order to make him appear less than he is in order that others can appear equal would be an injustice to all of them. Thankfully they are not.
This is a competition after all. we are past the point of how much they have personally grown- they have all grown and will continue to do so. We now must consider how they stack up next to each other. When I audition singers, I am not interested in how much they have grown- that is the past. Nor can I be concerned about how much they will grow in the future. That is an unknown, and not a guarantee. I am concerned about the here and now and how they stack up against all the others auditioning for the same roles. That is where we are in this competion right now.
As I have said before, from my vantage point of so many years in the industry and being so closely involved with singers and performance in my own company, James is in a league of his own. That is to take nothing away from the others . It just is what it is. He is battle tested as well. Used to lots of slings and arrows being thrown at him from early on. He seems to have developed a thick skin and a maturity beyond his years. And he is surrounded by a big and beautiful circle of family and friends. He will need all of it. The music industry is wonderfully rewarding, many, many blessings. But is can also be very brutal and those who intend to enter it for a lifetime need to have that thick skin , that hunger to survive, and that safe haven.
James is the real deal and will only become more masterful with age- can you imagine! I can!! and I rest my case again!!!
Navigating the pathways of grief
Grief can result from any loss, including the loss of the dream of what might have been. I wrote a post yesterday - I Rest My Case- in which I stated that the music industry can be wonderfully rewarding but also excruciatingly brutal. Little did I realize that the brutal side was about to rear its ugly head that very night. I sat in disbelief as I watched you get your walking papers, James. I was so shocked that I couldn't cry , I couldn't even get angry,. My feelings of profound sadness, helplessness and deep sense of loss for what might have been were so deep that it took a restless night of sleep for them to surface. I felt sucker punched. It was like an awful public break-up where one party doesn't see it coming and is totally blindsided. Well today they surfaced with a vengeance. I cried and I raged and now am trying to put that energy into a more positive direction by writing this post.
James, with all my heart I plead my case for you in "James Does Not Have A Pitch Problem/The Essnce of James/ I Rest My Case". I will stand by it all til my last breath. I am so glad to know that you are okay . You will be a superstar- a household name. People will hear the name James only and will know it is you. So many blessings lie ahead for you and your beautiful family. All so well deserved.
Having said all of that there are some things that cannot be swept under the rug. I have been in this industry too long and seen too much not to speak my mind. For all the good that will come of this , your leaving is a travesty . You were favored to be in the final and most pundits and those in the industry called it your competition to win or lose. You were never in the bottom 3 and received high praise from producers, judges and fans alike from day 1. On Thursday morning the polls overwhelmingly had you safe and favored to win. To be at the top of your game and then to suddenly be gone in less that 24 hours something is terribly wrong.It shows that the system is broken. You are a rare talent, a rare gift to the public that is blessed to hear you. Alot of people have some of your skills but very few have all of your skills- the complete package. I know what I know as do the judges ,producers, vocal coaches, band members, and crew on AL. Judging from Jennifer's reaction she is as brokenhearted as I am. I do believe she and Randy and Steven did as much as they thought they could verbally to let the public know how incredible you are- in a sense they were giving you verbal standing ovations. I just wish they would have given you physical standing ovations as they did for everyone else who is still left standing. Perhaps they were saving it for later. I am sure they thought they had plenty of time for that. You certainly deserved it before your final song! . The public notices gestures like that and giving Haley a standing O two weeks in a row while telling you that the competition was yours to win or lose and not giving you one sent a mixed message I am sure- one I am sure they did not intend to send. You were robbed and so were we of the opportunity to hear 6 more wonderful performances from you. I would love to know what you would have sung!The loss of that opportunity makes my heart ache. Your departure was so unexpected and so abrupt. It will a little time to pick up the pieces.
I know you and all of us will survive all of this and move on to greater things. I am not so sure about American Idol itself. I was hoping that the powers that be at Al and the American public would have the courage and, conviction and foresight to get this right. Which brings me to another point. I Nigel, the voting system at Al has been broken for some time. You know that. The American public trusted you to make changes and get it right as you attempted to do on So you Think You Can Dance. You did not and the flaws and inequities in the system, and the ability to game the system certainly contributed to Thursday's result. It isn't just the American public that is outraged by the way; so is the international community that so overwhelmingly supports James- Posts that say Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Burma,South Africa, Poland, France, Germany, Phillipines, Malaysia, Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia love James. They think the Americans have lost their minds and are missing James already! One post reads that South Africa will not see the show until this weekend but that then the " rage will begin". If this result does not get you to make changes nothing will. And by the way why in the world for the first time ever did you change the order of the singers rotation. That has NEVER been done and yes, there was confusion over that! Why would you give James #1 and #5when he sang #1 and #8. Unbelievable!!
There have been questions for several years as to the possibilty of AI manipulating results, playing the public for a fool. As good old Abe said "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time , but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." And with the shock of Thursday keenly in the hearts and minds of viewers and fans domestically and abroad, these questions will only intensify unless big changes are made.
Finally, there are consequences for all actions. The results on Thursday are no exception. There will be an American Idol crowned on May 26 and sadly, unless the powers that be are moved to address the concerns of the domestic and international communities of James fans, it will not be you, James. In the majority of polls asking who should be in the final 2, your name, James was the name listed most consistently. It was the 2nd name that changed most often. Why is that? Because you set the bar, James, you are and always will be the benchmark for season 10 - and in my opinion for all 10 seasons. There has never been anyone quite like you. Even those that favored other singers wanted their favorite to battle you. To do that would have added even more credibility and legitimacy to the result. Now that the benchmark has been removed, the winner will be left in some deep place to wonder. Could I have gone to the mat with James and still won?
You are the best James and I am so grateful for the opportunity that Al has given me to know you and your beautiful family, and to witness the beginning of your superstardom !! The ball is now definitely your court. Run with it and Rock On! Can't wait to see what you have in store for us!!!!!
Blessings,
Kathryn
end of postings
I don't know who this woman is, and I don't know what her credentials are. But I liked what she had to say, and I like how passionately she believes in James and his vocal abilities. Soon I will be posting critiques from the MasterClass Lady. She has been writing about American Idol at least since season two, posting detailed summaries on the strengths and weaknesses of each contestant every week. She was very impressed by James, as you will soon read.
A Fan
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