Idol 27 - Siobhan Magnus

27. Siobhan Magnus

Season 9, 6th Place

Siobhan Magnus - glassblower, moth whisperer, power belter, and Season 9's resident quirky-chick contestant. There was no denying that her elimination at 6th place drained a little color from the final eight episodes of the strange and frustrating Idol season 9. Seriously.

Now, if I'm being honest, I didn't expect myself to really like her. She was - just like many of them -one of the glorified cannon-fodders. I mean, we never got to see her audition and all we saw in Hollywood was just a 10 second clip of her singing a shockingly wonderful version of Living In The City. So, going into the semifinals round, not one part of me thought I would consider Siobhan Magnus as a real contender.

But then, she came out of the first live performance show and blew me away with Wicked Game. It was an interesting, difficult, and courageous performance and she sung it like a pro. There was a dark side to it and the song just sucked me in. The next week, she belted out Think, which somehow proved that she’s like a female Adam Lambert - is that redundant? - and might be, vocally, one of the most talented women to ever be on Idol.

After that, she pulled a gorgeous performance with House of The Rising Sun. Now, I knew Siobhan had power, but I didn’t realize how much technique she holds as a vocalist up until that week. Really. The first half of the performance was a capella and she delicately balanced her pitch and dynamics to a perfect degree. Clearly, that was the performance that made me a fan.

Then, during the Top 12 week, she, yet again, gave another water cooler performance as she slayed her rendition of Paint It Black. The Alice In Wonderland musical entrance was cool and clearly very “Siobhan” and I absolutely loved the changes to the verses’ vocal melodies. They were delayed and haunting and the end of the song was a phenomenal moment on American Idol. The performance was undeniably a mixture of rock and roll and Phantom of the Opera and it worked on every level.

Sadly, she was unable to deliver another showstopper after that. Sure, she still managed to be pull out some good-to-great performances here and there  but for some weird reason, she got confused with her musical identity. At first I thought she had a handle on it when we saw Wicked Game, House of the Rising Sun, and Paint It Black. I assumed Siobhan was going to be this dark pop/rock princess but then everything just got weird. She strayed from her uniqueness and it endangered her.

Now, I know she doesn’t care about being defined but, as an Idol contestant, her lack of definition really destroyed her over the past few weeks. As a technical vocalist she was stunning (even when she wasn’t given her proper dues… judges, that’s on you!) but as an artist she was confusing and kept appearing out of place and not ready for the big show. Still, I enjoyed her and it was too early for her to leave. Alas! Alas! Alas!

Favorite Performance(s): There's no doubt in my mind that Wicked Game, House of the Rising Sun, Think and Paint It Black are her best performances on the show. Nothing more to say, just watch it!

Wicked Game

Think

House of the Rising Sun

Paint It Black

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