Idol Sweden 2013: Vecka 1: Här är jag
10 October, 2013 8:12 PM
5 wildcards were handed last week, leaving us with 13 finalists. Unfortunately, after a disappointing performance, former X Factor Sverige contestant Juliette Holmqvist had to leave the competition ahead of the live finals. 12 remain but by the end of the night, one more will be heading home. Who'll it be?
Recap after the JUMP ...
Sakib Zabbar
"Get Lucky" (Daft Punk) - 5/10
- A current song this week but still the wrong one. The vocals were pretty mediocre for most of the song and the 'uh's were uncomfortable. Actually, the whole performance was something uncomfortable to see. His awkward style didn't work here, mainly because it wasn't really there, as if he was repressing it. Not good, even the parts in which he sounded good had something slightly off.
"Thrift Shop" (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) - 5,5/10 - So she went for something upbeat this week, just as I suggested. Not exactly what I had in mind but I guess it's a good thing to be unexpected. Loved the very beginning, the rest of the performance was somewhat weird. I mean, it wasn't actually a train wreck but as if two trains bumped into one another. This isn't the girl I like, nor is this the route she should be taking. She needs to rethink her strategy fast.
"Impossible" (Shontelle) - 6/10 - Better song choice I guess. At least it's not such an overplayed tune and I'm thankful for that. Unfortunately, I've already decided that I will never like Gabriel so I didn't really enjoy this performance. His vocals are decent at best but he's such a generic artist. If he had even the smallest spark of originality I wouldn't mind the off notes but unfortunately, he doesn't.
"Skinny Love" (Bon Iver) - 9/10 - I'm already tired of this song being constantly covered but I know Erik will do it justice. The cheesy hands were totally unnecessary but besides that, his take on this song was predictably wonderful. I loved the melody's arrangement, the James Blake-ish vibe really worked with it. Erik keeps impressing every week, of course he could polish some things, like the hands, but I've no doubt he'll get there by finale time.
Matilda Melin
Gabriel Alares
Erik Rapp
Elin Bergman
"Seven Nation Army" (White Stripes) - 7/10 - She apparently took the judges comments to heart as for the first time, there was no rapping during the song. While I think this song screamed for some rap, the lack of it didn't hurt the performance. She sang it really good and even if I wasn't a fan of the choice, I still love Elin and hope she's hear for the long run.
Sandra Wikström
"Empire State Of Mind" (Alicia Keys & Jay-Z) - 6/10 - She went smaller, but not quite. I was initially loving her more controlled focused sound but then she began going for notes bigger than she could handle and the performance lost all that was good about it. It's a shame cause the first half was sounding so lovely, even the runs she added to it. I hope she's able to pull off an amazing performance before going home, I hate to see her go on a bad note.
Sarah Mathisen
"Animal" (Miike Snow) - 7,5/10 - I've no idea what she was trying to accomplish with singing this type of song. She should have stuck to what she does best, after all, she didn't get enough votes to be here in the first place. The big stage overwhelmed her, she looked lost up there, and while her tone and voice sounded terrific, she didn't kick it out of the park with this one. On the plus side, her stylist is awesome, she looked amazing tonight.
Kevin Walker
"Pride" (U2) - 7/10 - Guess someone kicked some sense into him. Maybe it was the judges harsh comments last week or maybe he just took a break from being this year's joke contestant. Whatever the reason, Kevin brought back some of his first audition magic into this performance. Great vocals, albeit somewhat boring, exactly the crowd-pleaser that will get him votes. Taking a risk won't hurt though.
Miriam Bengtsson
"End Of Time" (Beyoncé) - 6,510 - How is it possible that Miriam is able to make everything she sings sound old fashioned? Looking at her style, it shouldn't be even possible. But apparently it is. Alexander comments last week were spot on, Miriam is a dancer who can singe not a singer who can dance and it shows since there's no doubt she can command the stage. I keep waiting for her to give us something original but I'm not sure she will.
Sara Sangfelt
"Set Fire To The Rain" (Adele) - 5/10 - It feels to me that everything Sara has sung thus far has been Adele, which is weird since this is the first time she's done it. Her voice doesn't sound like Adele's at all but still, I believe they are rather similar artists. Honestly, I didn't like this performance. Sara needs to avoid Adele and improve her singing cause she was pitchy and she sounded really weak. I'm not sure she'll get enough votes to stay.
George Shaid
"Resolution" (Matt Corby) - 8/10 - Such an awesome song. Matt Corby is definitely a great pick for George. So far, he's proven he knows how to pick what to sing and he hasn't disappointed me, which I was expecting. I love the way his tone worked with this song. It wasn't as explosive as it could have been but a good effort from George. I think he still needs some work on his eyes though.
Jens Hult
"I Will Wait" (Mumford & Sons) - 5/10
- Oh god. He completely forgot the first line. Hadn't he put the mic on his mouth, we may have not noticed. At least he's sounding better than last week. The song works with his tone really well despite he sounds a lot like the original artist. I guess we can expect no more joke performances from him, I wish at least.
Rankings
- Erik Rapp
- George Shaid
- Sarah Mathisen
- Elin Bergman
- Kevin Walker
- Miriam Bengtsson
- Sandra Wikström
- Gabriel Alares
- Matilda Melin
- Sara Sangfelt
- Jens Hult
- Sakib Zabbar
Results
Eliminated:
Sarah Mathisen
Oh no! Why did she have to leave so early? She was easily my favourite contestant but unfortunately, her song choice was completely wrong. I was under the impression she knew exactly what she could do. Being a wildcard, it was probably harder to get people to vote for her and after an ok performance, I just can't see how it was gonna happen. Sad nonetheless. I hope we'll get to see her again in the future since her original song "Don't Run" is amazing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
October 14, 2013 at 3:58 AM
I can't believe you missed that the microphone didn't work when Jens Hult started singing!??!! Not his fault, it was the sound engineer's fault!! My god...
October 14, 2013 at 4:16 PM
You're right, my fault. Guess I should have paid more attention to his mouth