Night of my Irish?

Class, today’s essay question pertains to the following.

Until today, TallulahBelle has found herself physically unable to muster up the strength to write this weeks recap of Idol due to a phenomenal lack of sleep due to the below reasons :

a) the upcoming end of Idol 2006 is no longer a light at the end of the tunnel and is instead threatening to create an Irish-less emotional vacuum in which she fears she can not exist, hence she is not sleeping well.

b) the idea that Irish might not actually win this has her so damn concerned that she’s spent nights stealing into people’s homes and using their phones to vote which takes up all the hours of the night, hence she is not sleeping well. Or at all. And may have some explaining to do to her neighbours when they get their phone bills.

c) she can’t hold a five minute conversation with someone without imploring them to text Damien to 19 10 10, to the point where people have flat out stopped talking to her and duck into toilets/closets/Scientology centres the better to avoid her, leading to some crippling childhood flashbacks that are keeping her up at night, hence she is not sleeping well.

d) unable to stop laughing from the absolute balls out badness of the lyrics of this years winner’s single, she burst several blood vessels in her eyes making it difficult for her to comfortably close her eyes and hence she is not sleeping well.

e) all of the above.

Discuss.

Jessica. The first thing I wrote about young Jess : “Jessica. Wow. This beautiful little girl sang I Have Nothing by Whitney Housten and she nailed it, she sang it better than Ricki-Lee did and RL didn't have to contend with the hot Australian sun, an army of flies and sweat dripping down between her shoulder blades. Kudo's kid.” And I don’t take that back, in fact I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever liked both final two contestants so damn much. Of course I want my boy to win, but I won’t cry myself to sleep if it’s Jess. (But I may stamp my feet and pout a little, mostly because Fosse and I will be hightailing it to Chez Shaneequa’s to watch the Grand Final after we finish our matinee performance on Sunday – ahhh, a new play, the real reason I have had no fucking sleep for the last week - and she is All About Jess and will be throwing a Jess win in our faces. IN OUR FACES. Which we will not in any way be doing back to her in the event of an Irish win, because we are not bad winners, we are good ones. And we have in no way learnt a little Irish jig of celebration for just such an occasion. Nup.)

Jess’s first song is the Winner’s Single ‘Night of My Life’. And although this is not as hideous as Poor Poor Casey’s single it is still fairly freaking woeful. The lyrics are kind of sweet but terribly inane and Jessica’s version of it swirls and twirls through the air like when they make fairy floss at the fair. It’s pink, it’s girly, it’s sickly sweet and quite frankly, fairy floss always makes me slightly nauseous. Making it to the final two though, has instilled quite the confidence in young Jess and the lyrics and the way this song is arranged (much as I loathe it) is actually quite appropriate to her and to the moment when the winner is announced but I don’t terribly look forward to hearing this version on the radio. Thanks but no thanks.

Her second song makes me oy vey to the ceiling, because it’s Christina Aguilera’s ‘Impossible’ and this choice shows absolutely no vision or sense at all to me. Jessica basically mimics every trill, every warble that Christina does on that track and this isn’t singing, this is imitation. It’s also not terribly good and has me concerned that we’re going to get only ballads from her tonight. I want some Jess diversity, I want a soft rock/pop bouncy number that she’ll absolutely smash. Fosse is so bored that he isn’t even watching when Jess gives the camera the Callea Reach (like the Callea Point, only with palms spread and a Searching Sensitive Stare of Sincerity.) Jess oversings this and it only highlights how hard she’s been working her vocals, because there are pitchy moments and she cracks slightly here and there.

She makes me much MUCH happier with her third and final song, as she sings infectious bubblegum pop Janet Jackson number ‘Together Again’. I forgive her for not knowing that this song is actually Janet’s tribute to the friends she has lost to AIDS, because Janet herself sings this with such happy, beaming, face to the sky hope that it is hard not to identify the underlying message. It isn’t the same as not knowing what To Sir With Love is about, which is much more upfront with its intentions, but I bow to the greater knowledge of Fosse on this one, who has this to say :
Fosse "This is the song I consider "my song" as I lost a partner to AIDS so it pushes significant emotional buttons. Even when it's sung with absolutely NO idea of its intent as Jess did. It's the celebration of a life, a love, a friendship. It IS joyous but it is tinged with a sense of loss. Bless her but this really emphasised her youth and naivity. It's one thing to have a great voice (as I concede she does) but I really cannot forgive her for not tapping into any emotional connection with this song. "Janet sings it boppy, so will I! Come on everyone, bop with me!" Some people might not be a fan of Irish but damn, he connects with the song he's singing. "
Regardless of intent, she busts out Fun Jessica, my personal favourite version, getting poppy all over the place, shimmying and dancing around, having a ball and sounding fantastic. A very good way to end and a strong showing. She’s done well, and as I said, I won’t be completely distraught if she is the winner, just I’d prefer it to be my boy . . .

Speaking of.

Irish. The first thing I wrote about Irish : “Then we finally get some of the good NSW singers, like Irishman Damien who sings that song from Closer when Jude Law is scamming on Natalie Portman from across the street and it always gives me goosebumps because the song is great and this guy? Sings it really well. Damn fine falsetto. Damn. Fine.” Heee, Irish played Tevyah in Fiddler On The Roof – small things amuse me and this is one. I am not as amused by his thrash metal long hair, as it is less early Ozzy Osbourne and more Cindy Brady bob.

His first song is Alex Lloyd’s ‘Never Meant To Fail’ and he’s off to a flying start, because its hard not to have more chemistry and presence than Alex Lloyd (I own his CD’s, I love his voice but he’s a little dull on stage). I can absolutely see myself driving in my car and listening to a CD of Irish’s music, singing along with him, getting caught at the lights by the car next to me, not giving a damn, pumping up the volume and singing even louder. This isn’t as technically well sung as Jessica’s first song, his voice is getting slightly overpowered by the band but it is earthier, it’s rocker and it’s the kind of thing that will sit nicely on a CD next to a song featuring The Falsetto.

When he starts into his second song, Ben Harper’s ‘Waiting On An Angel’, the competition is officially over for both Fosse and myself, because this is fucking heaven sent. He has smartly picked two very different songs, highlighting what he does best, and choosing two songs that are extremely well suited to his voice and that are different enough to show variety. God, his voice is angelic. He uses The Falsetto sparingly here, seguing effortlessly into it at the end. Beautiful.

Then This Year’s God Awful Idol Single and you know? When TYGAIS is Arranged By Damien Leith? It kind of frigging rules. ‘Night Of My Life’ Irish Redux is faster, not as sombre and earnest, it features less trilling (obviously) which makes me instantly happier about the song and he’s arranged it guitar and percussion heavy which gives it more of a Pete Murray feel, it’s ‘Murray-esque’. It’s not as sappy or wet as Jessica’s version and if this is the winners single then I will personally buy a multitude of copies and randomly give it to people on the street. What a brilliant job of arranging, it takes skill to take out the massive amount of suckiness that the lyrics have put in. His falsetto cracks slightly under the strain and whilst this isn’t as well sung as Jessica’s version, this is absolutely the version I would rather listen to.

Sidebar : The next day, whilst driving to our dress rehearsal, Nova radio station held a quick poll to see which version (live version from the show) of the winner’s single their audience wanted to hear. I of course, immediately rang and put my two cents in for Damien’s – you have NO idea the effort it took not to call him Irish – version and they put me on the radio to shill for him. I noted how it was differently arranged to any previous winner’s song and that Damien did a beautiful job of arranging it. They thanked me kindly and played the song, after noting that Damien ROMPED in the poll. But – as Shaneequa noted to me the other night – it was Nova and it would be interesting to see which way that poll would have gone on Fox.

Well. This is it kids. See you Monday when I will be exhausted from a weekend of The Play, the Grand Final and the either exuberant guzzling of champagne in celebration of an Irish win or the saddened guzzling of champagne in the wake of Jessica’s win.

In closing? Text Damien to 19 10 10 – wait, where are you going?? I just want to talk to you about how great he is and . . . awww nuts. Lost another one.

TallulahBelle out.