Sunday, October 20, 2013

Swedish Idol 2013: Friday Finals Week 4 - 18.10.13

This week's theme was "gone too soon" which is not a reference to the eliminated George (you can tell I'm still annoyed about that one) but songs by stars who are no longer with us. 

Sara Sangfelt: "Rehab".  This was all over the place , singing a different melody and was very disappointing, as I thought she would do justice to an Amy Winehouse song.  This was just the wrong one.

Elin Bergman: "No Woman No Cry". You may be surprised to learn that there were moments during this version (of the Fugees version) which weren't 100% terrible.  It's probably too late to hope that she might be steered away from the chavvy musical style and look, for there may just be some potential there after all. 

Erik Rapp: "A Change Is Gonna Come".  After Erik's shocking bottom-two place last week he was back to his best.  He has such a solid, mature vocal style for one so young, and a great recording voice so win or lose, we're going to be hearing a lot more from him.  This was an almost faultless vocal performance.

Miriam Bengtsson: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody".  Song choice, FFS!  Can we please have a little more imagination?  This isn't X Factor after all.  Happily, Miriam brought a lively and more updated performance but as with her Michael Jackson cover the other week, her vocals can suffer at the expense of the dancing and stage movement.

Gabriel Alares: "You Can't Kill Rock N'Roll".  Now this is more like it.  A great song choice, dedicated to Sugarplum Fairy's drummer Kristian Gidlund who recently passed away.  A very interesting decision to reinvent it as a big Swedish pop ballad which was effortless for him.  As the weeks go on, does anyone agree that he's becoming the Idol 2013 contestant most likely to appear at Melodifestivalen....?

Kevin Walker: "Behind Blue Eyes".  He's very smart is Mr Walker.  He has an easy-going, if limited, vocal style, but he chooses songs very carefully which don't stretch his vocals too far.  However he needs to work on his emotional interpretation, as he grinned his way through dark lyrics.  The jury were very positive about this week's performance.

Sandra Wikström: "Try Again".  A bit too much fight and attitude this week which overwhelmed the subtlety of the original.  She's maybe trying just a little too hard to prove herself and fight off the "haters". 

Matilda Melin: "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay".  Matilda and Sara seem to have vocally morphed into each other.  I'm desperately searching for some vocal subtlety in this year's female contestants, and failing miserably.

Jens Hult: "Come As You Are".  Subtlety was in short supply here too, but then we wouldn't really expect that from the gravelly voice of Jens singing a Nirvana song.  There were some cringeworthy moments in here but he is still rather good at what he does, I guess.

Bottom 2: Sara....


...and Sandra...


...with Sara eliminated this week.  Presumably her vocals will now be completely inherited lock, stock and barrel by Melinda.  8 contestants remain, and by the law of averages one of the boys will be next to go, but which one?

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