"God Bless the Child" on Idol?


Anyone catch Jacob Lusk's performance of this Billie Holiday classic last night on American Idol?

It was truly one of the most earth shattering performances I've ever seen on the show.

BH herself would have been proud.

Can't wait to hear what this guy does next.

There seems to be a fair abundance of real musical talent on Idol this year so far it seems!
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The poor fellow over-cooked the song to death and added every pyrotechnic, vocal inflection and scat-jab in his bag. Can't blame him but it made for an uneven delivery.That said, the guy has really serious raw talent as does the upright-bass fellow and a few others.

Anyone care to guess how much "work" Tyler has had on that face? Or how truly vapid Lopez is :o) Anyway, its a nice mid-week diversion with the kids. Almost as much to make fun of as there is to genuinely like.. Viewer manipulations galore but there are some young singers this year that are better than any I've seen there since Daughtry.
Not everyone with "talent" will be in the final group selected. You can bet they will select some "human interest" personalities - e.g., a "youngster like a 15 year old "phenom" (who'll be eliminated in mid season), a "difficult" personality, and, of course, a "compelling" personal story (single Mom, or dedicated to someone with a misfortune). This year's group has much better pure singing talent than last year in comparison. Finally, I am deeply suspicious after how AI "manipulated" the last few shows of last season to make the eventual winner look more impressive with more staged "dramatic" presentation and Seacrest "hyping" of his "underdog" personality. In the end, does anyone remember what the two finalists are doing now? Even my "favorite" finalist Bowersox has disappeared into the pop-culture void. Compared to this season's AI crop so far, even last year's final two would have a tough time among this groups last 24. Yeah, that "GBTC" was a sweet one time performance. Can he do more types of music and be equally compelling? That's the challenge for the AI contestants- to show they are more than a "one trick pony". OK, I admist AI is a nice once in a while break from my intense rapt attention on my tube-analog system
It's interesting to see how everyone has different tastes, which is totally fine. I checked it out on youtube and struggled getting through it. Okay, the guy obviously has vocal talent, but when someone goes hardcore into vocal acrobatics, it loses me very quickly. I find that the emotion of the song is lost. I can't say that BH would be proud. She was about emotional delivery of a song as opposed to vocal acrobatics. Anyways, just my 2 cents.
I feel silly to admit that I have watched, if not most of the shows, at least some of every season of American Idol. Ususally by now, most of the great auditions give way to show the weakness. This year I am genuinely impressed by the abundance of natural talent.
I also really liked the guy with the acoustic bass.
The 15 year old that sang What a Wonderful World was not exactly chopped liver.