THE DAM NATION: Idol 15 - Melinda Doolittle

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Idol 15 - Melinda Doolittle

15. Melinda Doolittle

Season 6, 3rd Place

Ok. Don't freak out everybody! Yes, Melinda is just at #15 and I'll discuss about that later..

When I first saw Melinda's audition, I already fell in love with her. I found her adorable, and even better, she could sing her face off! I love me some good gospel singers, and I could tell that she had a nice gospel flair to her voice. Oh, and when she said she was a backup singer I was even more intrigued. Seriously? Just from her audition alone, I definitely thought that she would be a serious contender for the win.

So, going into the semifinals, Melinda definitely did not disappoint - and that's a huge understatement. She undeniably destroyed everyone in the competition during the semifinals, and soon became one of the biggest forces in Idol history. Frankly, I think she - by a comfortable mile - had the best semifinal rounds of any Idol contestant EVER. Her voice was always extremely strong, and she was quite the performer. She really just came alive while she sang and then shrink down to her little self as soon as she finished and humbly take in the judges comments. How could you not love her? Then, the Finals came and I was pretty certain that a Melinda win was inevitable, and I was absolutely fine with that.

However, while I know that Melinda was often hailed as the contestant with the best run on Idol EVER - without a single bad performance - it certainly doesn't mean she didn't have any flaws. I think the only problem I had with her was that fact that she could be extremely predictable. She loved to sing very old fashioned songs, and rarely sang anything modern. I mean, it wasn't until Top 7 night that she sang any song that had been written beyond the 70's, and most of her modern choices were due to themes that required modern songs. She actually had a four week run of singing songs from musicals, for crying out loud!

Don't get me wrong, she sang them brilliantly, but American Idol is supposed to be the search for the next superstar. Not the next Broadway act. So, it became more clear as the weeks went on that she was doomed to fail. Oh, and I think the other problem that worked against her was the fact that she peaked too soon. Clearly, Melinda gave us her seven best performances within the first seven weeks of the competition. Yes, she was still great the last several weeks, but she just had an unbelievably strong start to even maintain the high quality of her first performances.

Now, was she the most relevant contestant of Season 6? Of course not. That said, I think that she dominated the show week after week to such a degree that she absolutely was the only rightful winner for Season 6 - though I wouldn't say Jordin Sparks didn't deserve the win. I'll get into her someday. Ha!

Favorite performance(s): My Funny Valentine would have to be my favorite. This was, by far, one of the most brilliant performances I have ever seen on the Idol stage. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love every note of this performance. I'm a Woman was pretty much within the same caliber as the previous one. I love the sassy demeanor she had and all of the grit in her voice. I've Got Rhythm was also really good. This, to me, definitely highlighted everything that's great about her voice and performance skills. I might as well throw in Melinda's other semifinal performance, Since You've Been Gone. Oh, and her audition was also really good.

Audition