Pre-final 2- Chick, Korea

Music makes the world go ‘round. Music is not bound by language, geography or generation. Music is the food of love. Et cetera.

Really. Some sayings are so boring. If I were you, I’d have stopped reading at “bound by language”. I guess this is because we’ve heard some things said so often, but we’ve never experienced them first-hand. Watching a cliché come alive, more than being a mere reality check, is a refresher course for old jaded cynics.

On an operational level, last night saw four more people heading for the finals. But on that intangible level that writers love so dearly, it served as a refresher course for this jaded cynic I know. Turns out, music isn’t bound by language after all. Ask anyone who heard Goo sing. Some truth is cooler than fiction.

More about that later. Let’s start from the bottom and move up.

DJ: I’ve heard you sing a hundred times, but I’ve never seen you nervous. You have the voice and the presence, but the sad thing about nerves is that it paralyzes you. Getting discouraged is the worst thing one can do. Get some practise (loos are the best venue for this) and come right back.

Lindsay: Real pity you didn’t make it. But I have two words for you: song choice. You were great on Proud Mary, but Janis’s version of Summertime is a tough one. The charm lies entirely in the octave she sings in, and by taking it down, I do believe you lost out on voice quality, performance and about 50 votes. I still voted for you because your first song was outstanding.

Russ: You’re a wild one alright, gimmick boy! Your performances were really entertaining, and it looked like you were having a great time. That is easily one of the things that will set some people apart from others in this competition. That, and a superlative voice. You have one of them. :)

Sulekha: Song choice, half-hearted performances and finally, an alarming incident where you seemed to be checking your pitch- repeatedly- on the microphone. Girl, get off the mic when you want to check your pitch! Please! You actually sounded quite nice on Say A Little Prayer For You. But Black Velvet didn’t work out at all. And too many people do that song for it to continue to be fresh. Come back, and sing more. It always helps.

Now for those who made it.

Goo: The greatest sorrow is that you’re not going to be reading this article, Goo. Because while I’ve been gushing over various voices these past few weeks, what you pulled off gets all my R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Ladies and other weird creatures, this is where that bit about music not being restricted by language becomes relevant. Goo topped last night’s poll.
No. of brilliant performances: 2
No. of votes received: 139
No. of words she understood in both songs put together: Word has it, closer to 2 than to 139.
I cannot wait to listen to you at the finals.

As always, fools tread where wise men fear to venture. Here goes.

Marry Me!

Andy: Here’s the thing. You sing like a dream AND you’re approximately my height! Imagine! We can see eye to eye on everything! On a more serious note, I was really afraid after your stalwart performance of Love Hurts. I was almost sure you wouldn’t have been able to match that with song 2. But when I watched your performance of Show Must Go On, I think a piece of my heart fell into my beer. You are my pick from last evening. Without doubt. There’s a ring with your name on it.

Pratik: You have a great voice, and everything else that it takes to win this contest. No doubt about it. You even seem to have this stout Rock n’ Roll background, and a general ability to pick the right songs. Which is why I can’t for the life of me figure out why you picked Kiss From A Rose. You are great, I love your voice, marry me. But please be careful about what you pick for the finals.

Pragnya: Honestly, when you sang Somebody to Love, I had written you off. It didn't do you justice, you didn't do it justice. But then your Chain of Fools came to the rescue. What a brilliant choice that was! Your voice did everything right for that song, and it's not at all an easy number to pull off. Last evening was the best you’ve ever sounded and you deserved every single one of your 105 votes.

And that brings us to the end of a Wednesday with an alarming number of bad song choices, but a heartening number of great voices. And that sentence would have sounded far less cheesy if it hadn’t happened to rhyme.

Till next week, then. Practise your scales, gargle and…run your song choices by me!