Week 10: Nessun Dorma & Unchained Melody

[flynn]

rolypoly said:

oh, and I forgot to say... have you noticed that on idol.oopson.com there are Jess songs and Damien songs to download BUT NOT ONE DEAN song. Now why would that be unless someone thinks Dean is going to win and they don't want to deflate his record sales?

LOL roly

This is one conspiracy theory I can put to rest. I know the person who runs that site - from another forum - and he (well I think it's a he) actually cant stand Dean. Anyway - I didnt follow it all too well but I know he used to put Deans songs up but for some reason he got a lot of flack from Dean fans (being to slow to post deans songs maybe??) and now they've all gone.

Giggle snort!

[Mi chiamano Kami]

Yes - I'm afraid for Damien getting through tonight too. Having watched the whole show I really think that Damien's performance of Nessun Dorma was underrated by the judges (I've watched the video back and Mark was clearly close to tears - even more moved than I remember him being by Anthony singing The Prayer), and... well, we all knew that Damien's Unchained Melody was going to be panned because of the glory moment headspace the Idol judges are in! No matter that, in my opinion, it was a stronger performance than any of the others that night. I think that Damien did perhaps find it hard to come back and sing after what really should have been the last song of the night, but I love that he tried to give it a subtle arrangement even when he must have known that belting it out would have easily won the favour of the judges.

If this competition were all about talent and delivering the goods Damien would be safe for sure tonight, but unfortunately there's more to it than that and for that reason we're going to have to vote like we never have before. It would be a real injustice if Damien didn't make it to the Opera House after everything he put into last night.

[rolypoly]

hey guys thanks for putting me right about the oopson website (oops I am so embarrassed!).

Guess I'm fretting about getting our boy through. I felt flat at the end of last night's show. I thought Damien wasn't being rewarded enough by the judges, especially given how hard he must have worked last week. I thought his Nessun Dorma should have been the last song of the evening.

Heard Mark Holden on the radio this morning saying that he agreed with Kyle's comments last night about Damien (?!). He said Dean would have international appeal, and he also didn't want someone who would only sell one album. For some reason he thought Dean wouldn't be a one-album boy. This sudden "we love Dean" thing from the judges is bothering me.

[flynn]

He SHOULD NOT be talking up ANY OF THEM at this stage of the game. How dare he do that. Blatant manipulation. I'm sorry - but Dean would absolutely be a one album kid. The tweenies will go out and buy his first album by the truckload but as soon as the next shiny object comes along they'll abandon him. You'd think they'd have learnt by now. I thought that was supposed to be the whole "Idol has changed" point!!!

And yeah - which comments did he agree with?

[Selestial]

Morning everyone.

I've read this whole thread, and know all you guys are thinking and worrying about the same things as me. I am glad towards the end there were some mixed comments, as it has encouraged me to now speak my thoughts, where I thought I might need to bite my tongue.

First and foremost - re: Nessum Dorma - I cannot begin to describe how thrilling this was to experience. But everyone knows as they feel it too, so I will not go too much further with it.

Unchained Melody As soon as he walked out on stage to sing that song it seemed he thought he'd just breeze through, as he knew the song so well, and he had already dealt with the most difficult part of the night - but this is what sometimes leads to one's downfall. And NO, he did not mess it up, he did really well, but he did seem to be just sailing through on the breeze, so to speak. I too thought it was just a little lacklustre. This just may be because Damien had set the bar so high right from the beginning - of LAST week's show!!! However, maybe he deserved for once to sail through a song, after the incredible hard work he has put in, especially the last two weeks.

The Judges Yeah, everything is manipulated here - otherwise, what is the point there being judges at all, when they have no actual scoring system? I've said it before - it's always a downer to hear a really great performance be followed up by a dismissive or negative comment from Kyle or Mark. But it's all engineered, and I think we all know that. To me if the three singers were just there doing their stuff it would be 1. Damien, 2. Jess, 3. Dean. But from the judges' up and down comments it put everyone on an equal playing field. I do commend Dean for really making an effort, especially in the second song, but there was no doubt that the judges' comments and touchdown was an exaggeration. That Dean touchdown just about broke my heart. All the time I was thinking "Mark, don't do it! Don't do it!"

Final 2 Now this is the part which will definitely not win any brownie points for me on this forum. But I'll say it anyway. I am more worried that Dean will get through tonight than I am Damien leaving. It just does not sit right either Jess or Dean to be up against Damien in the final. Dean vs Damien?? ppft. Equally Jess vs Damien. But my first preference is the latter. I do want Damien to win Idol but it just about makes more sense to see Dean vs Jess in and Idol Grand Final, these two seem to fit the bill in what the execs want, Dean being the likely winner.

I am not happy with these thoughts, but it is just what is going down at the moment.

[rolypoly]

Sorry, don't know which comments Mark agreed with. (I also wanted to know! )

It was Kyle and Jackie's breakfast show. I so despise myself for listening to their show, as I can't stand Kyle, but I kinda thought they might chat about Idol and I was right!

Kyle was so excited at Mark agreeing with him about something - anything - that he never asked any more questions.

There was a bit of discussion about whether they would play Damien's songs on their radio show. Mark seemed to think they wouldn't.

At least Kyle denied this and said he would play Hallelujah but he said the producers had assumed he wouldn't.

But, for what it's worth, Mark said he thought Dean and Damien would be at the OH.

[murfinator]

Whoa! I've been away and only just came back this afternoon, but I watched Idol last night and Damien was spectactular! He deserved a touchdown for Unchained Melody as well! WOW

[shimmery]

lindy I can't wait to hear more and see pics - yes, hasn't this site grown! I think for the first few weeks we were about 20 members or so! Damien has very loyal supporters who love great music!!

rolypoly regarding mostly your points about Dean and then Damien's showstopper song first & the judges comments - whether it's true or not I think a few of us get instinctive feelings about these things and I got the feeling I was being manipulated last night in a none too subtle way.

[shimmery]

selestial and roly - from what you're saying they're saying on the radio, it seems that Mark and Kyle have worried themselves I think by including Damien in the comp when they're not sure yet how to sell him... and yet everyone I know wants to buy Damien's CD the moment it comes out.

I know radio play is all a lot of these execs think and get frantic about, but seriously, a lot of Damien's market don't even listen to radio, we read, we check out music stores and reviews and make our music choices that way. I'd be amazed if I put music radio on more than a couple of times a year.

[hyperrune]

I don't know if it's my imagination, but Damien didn't seem completely happy at the end of Unchained Melody. Did anyone else notice that? Perhaps he meant to go high, then changed his mind at the last minute and regretted it afterwards?
It's hard, because that song is iconic, and everyone has their fave version. I keep remixing D's version in my head with Gareth Gates', where he hit a high note at every opportunity. I understand he didn't just want to go high, everyone expected that, & he paced himself to build the anticipation. His ending was beautiful, not so much understated, but...more intimate, more genuine-sounding, less overly-dramatic and phoney-sounding. It was subtle - something only a girl, or a romantic (or both!) could appreciate.
Thought Gareth's version still sticks in my mind (he stutters and can barely talk, but the singing...OMG!), but damien has move past the original, and Leann Rimes' version (good but not great). And he's streets ahead of U2! I love Bono, he's a legend, but...he killed it!

[Mi chiamano Kami]

Yeah - the radio play issue I think is nothing. I've only put the radio on twice this year I think - once to catch Anthony Callea's new song, and once to find out its debut chart position. Anthony is an artist who doesn't get a whole lot of radio play for most of his stuff, and yet he does well for himself. He has a fiercely loyal fanbase, he's often asked to sing at important functions (national anthems, performing for the Queen... the list goes on!) and he just goes on releasing darn good music and tries to stay true to what he wants to do and what the fans love.

Damien already has the loyal fanbase part, and with his voice I can see him singing at the same kinds of functions. And we know his original music and covers are alike in their brilliance. So the record company executives will just have to pull their fingers out and accept that they may have an artist on their hands who doesn't fit the 'pop idol' mould, and give him a chance to sell himself in that way.

I agree Damien must have been a little uncertain about his choices with Unchained Melody - he even mentioned discussing the high vs. lower note approach which suggests it was still on his mind - but I think he did the right thing. Now nobody can accuse him of relying on his high notes to get him through. I really felt the emotion in his second performance - nothing would have lived up to Nessun Dorma of course, which really should have been last so it could be a crowning moment for him - and although he didn't seem as confident with it, I could see that he'd put as much time into the arrangement as he possibly could have. Yes... it was beautifully romantic.

[shimmery]

kamitsuki you're thinking like me regarding the kinds of work Damien can do, big events, etc. He's an artist that the general population will know and love, not just the teens and their radios.

Regarding Unchained Melody, I am really going to have to ask for some reminders here, because I thought the high note was on the last "need" your love, and Damien did that, then both Mark and D said he didn't do the high note at the end. But then again, I mostly listen to Bono's version and he goes low and high in different spots to the original so I'm getting them all mixed up now.

Anyway! I loved Damien's version last night, it was definitely a romantic version! But I noticed how drained he looked at the end of Nessun Dorma - no wonder! I think that exhausted his nerves and yet he was able to relax enough for his voice to do wonders. I was impressed every other week, so now I'll have to be *seriously* impressed, or impressed to the max x 10 to the power of 4 or whatever madness Mark says

[Mi chiamano Kami]

I thought Damien performed the high note that was in the original, too. I think Mark assumed that Damien would end on a really high note, literally, and that's what they were discussing. But like Marcia said, I'm glad he didn't if it meant we would have seen an... er... completely inappropriate response from Mark, as if he doesn't do those anyway.

[shimmery]

LOL - agreed Kamitsuki - and I'm glad you confirmed that about the high note and I haven't gone completely mad... I loved the way D arranged it

[shimmery]

I just realised - I haven't been shallow enough by any means regarding Nessun Dorma, because I meant to say ages ago that

OMG, D lkd so hawt n tht suit!!