Matt Giraud took a beating when he sang Viva La Vida, and Anoop learned the hard way that no one should sing Beat It. The judges keep bashing the song choices, and it's clear the selection can make the difference between going home or staying another round. So what should the contestants sing? Here, songwriters and Karaoke experts offer some advice.
Make It Your Own
Whether you make a new arrangement of a well-known song or choose something more obscure, the trick is to pick a song that people will identify with you, and not the original singer. Try to pick songs with unique character that people will identify with you. Last season, when Kristy Lee Cook wowed the judges with God Bless The USA, it helped that most viewers didn't picture Lee Greenwood singing it. You probably know these songs, but don't know who sang them:
I Can Dream About You
Baker Street
Dancing In The Moonlight
Fooled Around And Fell In Love
Counting Blue Cars
Don't Dream It's Over
Pick Something Different
George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl wrote Whitney Houston's hits How Will I Know and I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me). Says Shannon: "I want to see surprising song choices, and of course song recognizability is a big factor because people want to compare a vocalist to the original to determine their versatility and level of talent."
Take a chance with these songs:
Walk On The Wild Side
Different Drum
Beth
China Girl (punch the line, "I'll give you television")
Futz With The Arrangement
George Merrill of Boy Meets Girl puts it this way: "I love it when I hear a song in a different tempo, with a new cool rhythm, and clear melodies with less vocal pyro... usually simpler instrumentation seems to turn out the best in these live moments."
Brooke White had a big moment with her stripped-down rendition of Love Is A Battlefield. Holly Knight, who co-wrote the song, says: "I thought it was interesting, because the way she did it is really how it was originally done. It's not that she changed it, she just tapped into the vibe that it was supposed to be. The song was never meant to be a fast upbeat shuffle."
Even though he poached it from Chris Cornell, David Cook's spare version of Billie Jean was a great call, and Jason Castro drew high praise for his ukulele Over The Rainbow, which he got from the Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Here are some gems that haven't been used yet:
Bizarre Love Triangle - Listen to the Frente! version. A very sweet song when you strip the beat.
I Want It That Way - Vanilla Fudge proved that you can wring out the emotion of this song in a way the Boys Bands can't.
Torn - Use the original Ednaswap version as a template.
Short Skirt/Long Jacket - Tweak the Cake arrangement and you'll give the judges something to remember.
Which brings up a good point:
Don't Try To Be Whitney
Songs made popular by distinctive singers like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey or Janis Joplin will inevitably lead to unfavorable comparisons. Says Shannon: "A Whitney Houston song could be done with an entirely different styling. For example when we performed 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' at a songwriter's concert long ago we did it as a ballad, and it transposes nicely... as many songs do. Whitney does set the bar higher than most can reach though. It's easy to forget how good she was (hopefully still is) with the plethora of newer young singers who were raised on vocal gymnastics, until you hear her previous recordings."
Adds George: "The folks that choose to sing like Whitney inevitably come up short, because she did it better than anyone ever will! So, fiddle with it, make it work in a ska rhythm, or break it down to an acoustic guitar folkie version... much more exciting to hear a song you know so well with a unique twist. Simon likes that too!"
Learn From Karaoke
You would think that Karaoke offers a great way to field test the songs, but they're different beasts. Kimberly Starling of Karaoke Informer says: "The typical good karaoke songs tend to lack the uniqueness needed for an Idol contestant to stand out. Also, good karaoke songs are often less challenging musically."
According to Kimberly, here are some songs that can sound great with Karaoke Joe on the mic, but Idol contestants may want to avoid:
Crazy (Patsy Cline)
Sweet Caroline
Santeria
Friends In Low Places
What's Up
I Wanna Be Sedated (works every time, anyone can sing this)
Steve Douglas of Ultimate DJ and Karaoke in Kansas City adds: "I have found that American Idol actually influences what songs Karaoke singers choose to sing. They expose TV viewers to songs that they normally wouldn't hear on their normal radio station. American Idol contestants also have help from knowledgeable music and or vocal coaches."
Avoid The Overdone
Some songs have been performed on the show so many times that judges and viewers are numb to them. You're looking to stand out, so don't sing these:
Unchained Melody
Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Anything by Journey or Stevie Wonder
Lighten Up
The viewers vote, and if you sing something fun, there's a good chance they're going to like you. Not every song has to be a heartfelt scorcher. Try one of these:
Vacation
Lump
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
The Longest Time
Mickey (or "Kitty" if sung by a guy, which is how the song was originally done)
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Float On
Comments: 9
Lump or Float On would be funny but great, I'd vote for whoever sung those two, FER SUR
-Banks from NYNY
You do realize they only have like 10 songs to choose from right?
And, no one will never be nearly as epic as Adam Lambert
-Anonymous
Look to Britain for some great songs - "Keane", "Coldplay" and "Elbow" have some stunningly beautiful melodies and upbeat tunes. That's what peolel want to hear
-Emma from Brisbane
Have Aaron sing "do it for you" by Ballas Hough Band
-Alex from Utah
I would love to hear Andrew Garcia sing "sign your name
across my heart" by Terance Trent Darby, I think he would
be awesome.....
-mara from long island/ny
i say pick a song that is in your range! if you do not do that, you will have a bad time!
-Anna from hopatcong,new jersey
I think the best idea is to sing something with a lot of vocal runs in it. That's why people sing ballads as opposed to uptempo songs. They're mostly slower, and give you the chance to "flex your pipes."
-Evan from Illinois
The article also neglected the fact that there are a whole lot of artists who don't want their songs on American Idol. If you choose a song that doesn't clear you're pretty screwed. You might have spent 3 or 4 days rehearsing something you can't use, then have to pick something else in a hurry- meanwhile, the other contestants now have those 3 or 4 days of practice on you.
This is a MAJOR reason you see a lot of the same songs year after year.
Also, some of those song choices really aren't exactly great choices for showing off range. If I had a voice like Adam Lambert's I wouldn't pick a Lou Reed song in a million years :).
-Anonymous
Something this article neglected is the old, tired reasons the contestants often use for choosing a "bad" song for them. So many of them say things like, "it is my mother's favorite song", "it was on the first CD I ever bought, or "my uncle's, cousin's, brother thought I shoud do it", rather than the answer that makes sense, "It does an excellent job of displaying my vocal talent". But then again, I guess if it did an excellent job of displaying their vocal talent, no one would be asking why they chose that song.
-Ron