Blogger's Note: American Idol - This piece was written the night before Pia was sent home. My praise for 'America getting it right' turned to disappointment and shock at that moment. Though I'm still enjoying this year's competition, the injustice of Pia's elimination has marred the final weeks' results for me. She deserved better, and some with less vocal power deserved to leave sooner. She would have been a perfect contender for the top three.......
American Idol has been very satisfying this year. I am pleased with Jennifer Lopez’s stint as an Idol judge. She is beautiful and intelligent and brings years of experience as an artist to the judges’ table. Her advice is heartfelt and constructive. She tries to get the best performances from the contestants in a way that makes Simon Cowell’s harshness seem passé. Steven Tyler is a hoot as an advisor to the wannabes. He is just the right combination of mildly raunchy, funny, and compassionate and has earned his seat on the panel. Randy Jackson is now the ring leader, the veteran of the group. He has the courage to say what he knows is working and not working in a potential Idol’s performance. He has a backbone and a heart.
The nine remaining contestants have shown their talents within their genres, and I think there is an eclectic mixture of vocal styles. America has done a fine job of voting this year and I think we have a nice competition taking place. I’m finding that I don’t necessarily like all the voices, song choices, or genres, but I know why each performer is still in the running...talent!
Each viewer has his own take on and is affected by this competition in a different way. I was particularly touched by Elton John week and loved the Motown and Beatles tributes. Last night, the top nine contestants performed tunes from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The performances were all worth watching. The only thing that made this blogger’s forehead wrinkle in confusion was the labeling of ‘You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman’ as an Aretha Franklin song. Lauren Alaina was in good vocal form with the song and praised by the judges. Randy exclaimed that Lauren sang a song by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, a very difficult songs to sing, and did a good job with it, but that it had been done better. I really like Aretha Franklin, know why she has been bestowed the title of Queen of Soul, and why she was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. I know why the single of ‘Natural Woman’, released by Ms. Franklin in 1967, hit the top ten on the Billboard charts. However, the song, for me, will always be a Carole King song.
First, the song was written by Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Jerry Wexler. Without Carole, Aretha would not have recorded it. Second, ‘Natural Woman’ was included in what was arguably the best and most groundbreaking album by a female artist ever recorded – Tapestry by Carole King. It was the album’s finale and the twelfth of twelve first rate ‘gotta play them in sequence’ tracks included on the album. Third, Carole King and Gerry Goffin have also been in the Hall of Fame since 1990 as songwriters, and deserved to be a part of the tribute. Finally, I have seen this song performed by Ms. King countless times on concert videos and at two live concerts. In 2010, nearly forty five years after it was written, Ms. King stopped the show with a knock out performance of the song at the close of the first half of her Troubadour Reunion Concert with James Taylor, and I had the privilege of being in the audience. Friends who also had seen the concert that night confided in me that they were stunned because they knew of James Taylor’s ability to win over a concert crowd, but were not aware of the passion, energy, and audience connection the more underrated and private Carole King commanded, and cited ‘Natural Woman’ as one of their eye openers and favorite parts of the evening.
So, in conclusion and in my opinion, any tribute to the song ‘You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman’ as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame golden nugget must include both Aretha Franklin and Carole King in its introduction and praise. To me, Ms. King is the premier ‘Natural Woman’, and, after all this time, ‘Natural Woman’ is still a Carole King song!
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