'American Idol': Enough with the Adele songs!
Dear contestants of American Idol,
Why do you think singing an Adele song is a good idea, ever? I understand her music moves you and you trust that voters love her music, too, because her album 21 has now spent the most weeks at No. 1 since Prince’s Purple Rain. But this is a woman whose voice BeyoncĂ© has described as GOD’S. Why isn’t she on the Do Not Touch list along with Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, at least while the album is still so hot? The surest way to show that you are not ready to win six Grammys in one night is to sing one of her tunes. (And if you think you are ready, then you’re too cocky for week 1 of the live shows.) Worst-case scenario, you’re heat-less Eben Franckewitz singing “Set Fire to the Rain.” Best-case scenario, you’re Elise Testone singing “One and Only” and we’re saying, “Okay, she pulled that off better than Jen Hirsch” (who sang it as well last night — really?), but we wouldn’t rush to buy it because, again, we already own Adele’s version and you didn’t top it.
Bottom line: When you do an Adele song — even if it sounds great, like Haley Reinhart singing “Rolling in the Deep” last year — we’re more focused on comparing you to Adele than appreciating your voice for what is. It’s just unnecessary.
Do you agree, Idol fans, that we don’t want to hear another Adele song (until maybe she joins Elise in the finale, then what the hell)? Or, do you think only certain Adele songs need to be banned, like “Rolling in the Deep” (which we called before auditions began) and now “One and Only”?
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