I should weigh in on the end of American Idol. What I found interesting about the final two contenders was the distinction repeatedly made between them by the judges. Blake was the weaker singer but the better performer; Jordin was the better singer (and, I presume, the weaker performer, although this was never stated outright).
My question is what makes a good performance? Blake's singing was not bad, but he couldn't hold a candle vocally to Jordin or Melinda or LaKisha. Jordin has a tremendous voice, but isn't terribly interesting to watch. If I had $50 to spend on a concert, I'd go see Blake (I also happen to like hip-hop more than pop/torch-song fare).
What did Blake do that Jordin didn't?
This was, for me, *the* performance of the season. Notice that in the commentary leading up to the performance and in the judges' comments, there's quite a lot of discussion of risk. In light of Phil Ford's thought of the day a while back, Blake is not realizing the expected pattern: hence, the risk. But, he is still singing a hugely popular Bon Jovi song--the "what the people want" aspect. For me, Blake is the better performer because he included the element of risk in many of his performances while still pleasing most of the people most of the time.* Blake held my attention because I was never quite sure what he would do next. Had I walked away from the TV, I would have missed him trading fours with the drummer, which was fantastic.
I would argue that Jordin did give the people what they want. Her performances were basically safe and vocally quite good. I'd say she provided the "perfect realization of the expected pattern" every time. With Jordin, I could've walked away from the TV and I would have missed a good singer singing well.
I would also say that Melinda Doolittle did the same, and she was a much better singer than Jordin. So why didn't she win, if AI is indeed a singing competition?
Other TTU Theory AI posts:
See also the great AI posts at Dial M
*Chris Daughtry of last season took the same approach and he turned out OK.
My question is what makes a good performance? Blake's singing was not bad, but he couldn't hold a candle vocally to Jordin or Melinda or LaKisha. Jordin has a tremendous voice, but isn't terribly interesting to watch. If I had $50 to spend on a concert, I'd go see Blake (I also happen to like hip-hop more than pop/torch-song fare).
What did Blake do that Jordin didn't?
This was, for me, *the* performance of the season. Notice that in the commentary leading up to the performance and in the judges' comments, there's quite a lot of discussion of risk. In light of Phil Ford's thought of the day a while back, Blake is not realizing the expected pattern: hence, the risk. But, he is still singing a hugely popular Bon Jovi song--the "what the people want" aspect. For me, Blake is the better performer because he included the element of risk in many of his performances while still pleasing most of the people most of the time.* Blake held my attention because I was never quite sure what he would do next. Had I walked away from the TV, I would have missed him trading fours with the drummer, which was fantastic.
I would argue that Jordin did give the people what they want. Her performances were basically safe and vocally quite good. I'd say she provided the "perfect realization of the expected pattern" every time. With Jordin, I could've walked away from the TV and I would have missed a good singer singing well.
I would also say that Melinda Doolittle did the same, and she was a much better singer than Jordin. So why didn't she win, if AI is indeed a singing competition?
Other TTU Theory AI posts:
See also the great AI posts at Dial M
*Chris Daughtry of last season took the same approach and he turned out OK.