Whenever you see Carmella Soprano listen to Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”, you know that one of two things is going to happen. First, there will be a jump cut to the the Ba Da Bing Club and raucous heavy metal background music. Second, someone’s going to get whacked. Of course, almost any activity on the Sopranos tends to be followed by someone getting whacked. David Chase’s show is structurally similar to American Idol that way, only the music tends to be better. On the other hand, if you compare aberrant behavior on the two shows it’s a very close call.
It thus didn’t surprise me at all that they introduced, guest divo-maker, David Foster by saying he was responsible for dozens of hits. The blind sidekick hit-man who looked like Andrea Bocelli and did this sweet-natured schtick with Foster about being able to see hair color and female attractiveness made for really good Sopranos-style drama.
I got especially excited when Foster talked Chris Daughtry into lying down on the floor in front of the piano on the pretext of helping him sing more from his diaphragm. I was sure that Bocelli was then going to smother the alt-rocking family man with a pillow or at least Foster was going to talk Chris into barking like a dog or wearing a tutu then hand him a DVD, toss a glass of orange juice in his face, and scream, “That’s a message from “Live” for stealing their arrangement you derivative *#($*.”
I also was sure that the falsetto note Foster talked Kellie Pickler into further unhinging from the melody of that song from Ghost was supposed to signal the moment when Bocelli would suddenly take her out with a pefectly-placed shot to her calamari. Paula has already suggested to Kellie that her future might be in acting and the roller skating waitress would have been great in a death scene, a la Adrianna, going “What’s a Code Blue? Or "Ah can’t die with no boyfriend!”
It’s easy enough to imagine Kellie Pickler now resurfacing on Joey as a cousin from the even dimmer-witted Southern Sicily branch of the Tribiani family.
"How you doin?...."
"Joey, she's your cousin. Like your third cousin?"
"Okay then... how you doin?"
"Where Ahm from in Sicily, cousins marry all the time."
In a couple years, Kellie could then reappear in the Idol audience amidst the sea of Kevin Nealons, Sela Wards, Tori Spellings, as yet another person who was on television long enough to be recognizable at least with some help from a screen prompt.
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Article comments
1 - Nancy
They made Taylor change his song he had been practicing 2 days before. There have been a lot of things going on against him such as the lighting. I agree Chris gets everything he wants and they put poor Taylor on the spot. He is not being treated fairly any way because he was giving their choice a run for the money. It is evident to me that they do not want him to win. They have never done 3 groups of 2 until this year. Once again to call attention to their choice. AI: Please just let him sing what he wants and he will blow the top off of your studio:
2 - NR Davis
Hmmm. If true, that's interesting. And maddening. But something didn't ring true about the whole thing. I said to my son on Tuesday night that Taylor wouldn't have picked that song. And it may well be that AI wants to make Chris and McPhee the favorites. But it could also well be that the performance rights could not be secured for the song Taylor may have wanted to do. Perhaps it's both.
3 - idolboomer
I think it was obvious why David Foster asked Andrea what color hair do you think Kelly has. They spent a lot of time with her and after listening to all the probable stupid things she said, it was clear that she was "the typical dumb blond". Pretty funny I think.
4 - Michael J. West
I seem to be the only one in America who feels this way, but I thin Paris is the best one on the show. I keep voting for her, but every time she ends up in the Bottom Three or Two (and props to her for the cheery "It's my first time in the bottom two!"), it breaks my heart.
5 - chancelucky
It looks to me that either Taylor is trying to make his style fit or someone is making him do it.
I assumed that it was supposed to be a blonde joke of some sort. I had figured Kellie for another accent joke.
Paris appears to be the most versatile performer of the remaining contestants. She also seems to have the biggest voice. I'm not as sure about her ability to connect to the audience, but we'll see now that they have more singing time.
6 - RON
I LOVED KELLIE. I THOUGHT SHE WAS JUST NICE AND REAL. SHE HAD NO STAGE TRAINING LIKE CHRIS AND TAYLOR AND PARIS. SHE WAS REAL LIKE ELLIOT JUST A "NO NAME SLOB" TRYING TO WIN. I HOPE KATHERINE WINS NOW EVEN THOUGH HER MOTHER IS A VOCAL COACH OR ELLIOT MY FAV.
7 - Beth
What is the name of the song that Katharine McPhee and Andrea Bocelli randomly start dueting during rehersal? I know I've heard it before and it's driving me nuts!
8 - chancelucky
I couldn't recognize it myself. I did see a claim that it was "Time to Say Goodbye" (one of Bocelli's hits with Sarah Brightman), but I don't know for sure.
9 - beth
It's "The Prayer".
I knew I had heard Josh Groban sing it before. It was duet with Charlotte Church that starts out in English but has a later part that Andrea and Katharine sang on the show.
10 - chancelucky
Beth,
thanks for the info. I wish they'd shown more of that interlude, if there was more. It was one of those times that just felt like "music".