Do u guys hear that rearranged version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean on American Idol last night? That was a GREAT cover. It may be as good as the original.....
[Edited 3/26/08 6:30am]
[Edited 3/26/08 6:30am]

totally agree ... i am not into watching that show ... primarily for all the other contestants abysmal performances (in general - alot of kareoke -oops spelling )

but that one was awesome ... i heard the lionel ritchie "hello " version was good too (altho i kinda hate that song so i am glad i didnt hear it lol)

Oh man that kicked my ass HARD. I was like the entire performance. David Cook is going to have a career, no question about it.

ColAngus said:

The Richie song was very good....but last night was EXTREMELY good. U don't see this kind of skill level on American Idol. I was shocked by that.

purplecam said:

They'll mash him into the Daughtry mould and spit him out.

He's the only semi-interesting one this season. The rest are just dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.

VoicesCarry said:

The difference is that Daughtry was expected to be the winner that year and then he was eliminated a few weeks before the finals. David Cook isn't considered the front runner, but he might be after last night.

Graycap23 said:

His interpretation of Hello was great but you are right, Billie Jean was out of this world.

purplecam said:

If he wins or if he doesn't, the outcome will be the same if he signs one of their contracts. All the Idol winners/losers make MOR music that is handed to them, at least the first time out. Kelly Clarkson is the only one who has made an album that demonstrated a bit of artistic independence.

VoicesCarry said:

Very true. I could see him going outside of that MOR thing but like you said, it might not be the first time out. We will have to wait and see.

It was a great performance, but he should thank Chris Cornell for coming up with the idea first.

His version of "Hello" was totally original.

Later

I'm not watching AI this year, but I guess I'll look for this performance. Is it on youtube yet?

liltalkm said:

Who is Chris Cornell?

Graycap23 said:

Chris Cornell was the lead singer of SoundGarden and most recently the front man for Audioslave.

He recently put out a solo disk that included and acoustic version of Billie Jean.



Later

It was a great performance. But I don't think it comes close to the original.

coolcat said:

I'm not speaking of the performance which was good. I'm speaking about the arrangement of that song. Great arrangement combine with a very good performance. This is what AI could be.
[Edited 3/26/08 11:52am]

It was really an interesting version of Billie Jean.

Graycap23 said:

The arrangement didn't work for me personally.

I don't watch AI because they seem to always eliminate the interesting contestants for the cookie-cutter set by now.

But, I was watching David Cooks performances on-line about a week ago and he is the most original person they've had on there in a while. I've liked the performances he's done so far. He doesn't come out and routinely imitate other singers, he seems to put his own spin on his covers.

By the way, what in the the blue hell did Paula have on in the clip?

.
[Edited 3/26/08 14:29pm]

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Madonna flashback....

I'm sorry, but I didn't like it. And I'm not even a huge MJ fan. I'll give him credit for re-arranging the way he did. He didn't just Karaoke it. And that's good.
But it's not my cup of tea.

The 'Hello' verison he did was also a cover of a cover....I cant think of the band. but they were pissed that he did not acknowledge that it was their arrangement of 'Hello' which is why Ryan Seacrest made it a point to mention Chris Cornell before Cook sang 'Billie Jean' last night...

Same thing happened with Chris Daughtry one week he got raves over his rendition of Johnny Cashs 'Walk The Line'...the band Live came out and said that it was their arrangement from thier 'Hit's;' album....Daughtry soon apologized and acknowledged it and the band was cool enough to perform with him on the finale...

...

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:

Funny.....how they "4get".....That's NOT cool.

No, thank you.



I'll stick with dirty uncle Mike's version.

Besides, Chris has never been good with covers. He butchered "Whole Lotta Love" and a few others(then again is Whole Lotta Love even Zeppelin's song).

ToraToraDreams said:

Well, that credit should indeed go to Chris Cornell (Graycap23, I can't believe you don't know who Chris Cornell is)! But that guy has a good voice!

Here is also a interesting Billie Jean version:




or this one by "The Bates", which also has a cool Psycho style video:

PatrickS77 said:

Lol....I've never listened to either of the groups he fronted.

Well, I'm not a Soundgarden fan either, and I prefer Audioslave when they were still called Rage against the machine, but I would think Chris Cornell is a household name! Okay, but now you know him! Chris Cornell, the dude, who fronted Soundgarden and Audioslave (Rage against the machine after original singer Zack de la Rocha left) and also the dude who sang the title tune "You know my name" on James Bond Casino Royale!

PatrickS77 said:

I dig.....but read my sig.
[Edited 3/26/08 13:55pm]

Yes, but still you watch James Bond, don't you! And you read the none-Prince section.... anyway, we're here to help you get around outside the world of funk!

PatrickS77 said:

I understand.