DONNA SUMMER ON "AMERICAN IDOL", MAY 11 AND 12, 2004 - FULL REVIEW!

 

A REVIEW BY DAVID THORNTON - PHOTOS COURTESY OF CATHY HAWKINS

FIRST EPISODE (MAY 11) Last night Donna came out after her introduction and greeted Ryan Seacrest. She was introduced as a special guest judge for their "disco night." All four remaining diva wannabes were to sing disco hits. A beautiful video montage was shown of Donna's career along with a narrative. There was a fantastic footage of Donna shakin' it like we have not seen in 25 years. It's easy to forget how enticing and provocative she was. There was footage from Live and More, other concerts singing LTLYB, and the 1983 Hot Summer Night Concert, as well as a medley of hits playing in the background. Of course, the beautiful Once Upon A Time still along with some other stills graced the stage. Donna was hailed as having ignited the genre. Meanwhile, Donna took her place at the right of Simon Cowell, and to the left of Paula Abdul, then Randy Jackson. The divas came out...I have not been watching this round, but immediately got engrossed. Donna was remarkably calm except she was viewed rocking to Fantasia's "I Need A Hero," and flashed a knowing smile at Diana's No More Tears which she sang both parts to, not an easy feat in my opinion since I've sung it myself as a medley and it's hard enough to carry off the Donna part let alone the (yuk) Barbra part, too! A poor choice was "It's Raining Men." Donna seemed disturbed at this song. I don't know whether it was the mediocre performance, that it reminded her of its author, Paul Jabara, or that she had been offered the song and passed it up (as did Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross before the Weather Girls scored a major dance hit with it). Maybe that's me reading too much into it, since Donna must not be able to sing "Last Dance" without thinking of Paul, and she says that she'll sing it until she drops. What a tribute. SECOND EPISODE (MAY 12) First off tonight, the divas did a medley of Donna hits in group style. Diana sang Bad Girls (fab!), LaToya sang Hot Stuff, which was a little flat, sang Heaven Knows, which was a much better choice for her range, and Fantasia sang She Works Hard for the Money, but couldn't cut through the backup of the other three. There were some cute dance routines and LaToya and Diana had the moves over the other two. LaToya in a tight rhythmic Britney-like execution, and Diana grooving and moving like Donna in 1976. THEN, Ms. Thing herself came out as the girls relinquished the stage and spotlight to Last Dance. Donna's performance was seasoned and spot on in her black pantsuit. It was effortless and Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson were dancing at the judges table. Simon sat motionless as the cold hearted snake that he is. It was oddly apparent how superior Donna is as a singer not only to the fledglings, but to contemporary singers in general. I was thinking, Simon, try to find THAT on your tired little show! But, then I realized that a journalist must not be biased, and threw that balanced notion out the window and decided to continue being bitchy. The four girls emerged on the encore chorus and did a great job on the traditional Mary Ellen/Phyllis/Bruce backups. It sounded great and Donna was having fun with them. Tonight, the results were announced in individual format, with each diva getting their review and votes one by one. Diana DeGarvo sang "This Is It" (the Melba Moore hit). She did it better than Melba and changed the words from "this time I know it's the real thing" to "this time I know it's for real," in honor of Donna, I'm certain (nice touch...has she been mentoring with me?). Her second song was "No More Tears." Donna said "really impressed," and "really well sung," respectively. The others thought she was the song of the show with No More Tears. It turns out she is safe in the voting and will come back next week. (She's my personal favorite for her personality, style, energy, and voice. She's so cute that one could just hug her.) Clay Aiken then sang "Fantasy" (by EW&F) with the girls as backup. Their arrangement was more low key in order to let him shine. Donna cut through their full combined volume (which is quite formidable) like lava through the Antarctic ice pack. Not to totally dis him, he has a good voice and style that I like. It was unusual to hear him sing a R&B/disco song, and he did a good job. The girls dance moves were freestyle, so each was on her own with some choreographed moves thrown in. Then we went to more results: Fantasia Barrino: "Knock On Wood" and "Holding Out for a Hero." Simon hated the second song. Donna said: "you've got a great voice," and "you could sing the newspaper to me and I would love it," respectively, about these two songs. The general sense was that the second song was a poor choice. Knock On Wood was better in my opinion, but she lacked presence and confidence. As the results say, she is in the bottom two. We find out later in the show if she stays or goes. Clay said he is not really happy and that Fantasia owns the stage every time and is a fantastic singer. When he talks, he really is quite Southern and honestly, my gaydar goes into overdrive on him. A little light in the cowboy boots, if anyone asks me to speculate. He loves Diana, so I gotta give him some credit. By this time, they had done a good job of creating suspense! I was hooked as much as I hate to admit it. MacArthur Park!!!! A surprise treat solo from Donna!!! Oh my! Starting off with a very serious interpretation of the slow introduction conveyed almost a sense of "I'm over this small venue." But, then Donna broke into a super-fun and more animated version of the fast parts of the song, abbreviated as it was. Far be it from me to criticize, but aside from the Sharon Osbourne show, I have never seen Donna misstep in a performance. On the SO show, Donna started "You're So Beautiful" offbeat and recovered quickly on the second stanza like a true pro. However, she knew that she had done it from her subtle facial expressions and so did I. It's a tough song to start out with it's synth-only beat and no melodic intro leading the singer to count beats to "Seduced me, baby..." to start out...sort of like trying to time the chorus after the gestalt on "Last Dance." On MacArthur Park, Donna did regain control of her air and her diaphragm giving her enough support for a great finishing note held for about 6 measures (as opposed to the original 8 from the recording in 1978). I was happy for Donna and reminded myself that she's not in concert or studio mode at this point and this is more like singing at someone's birthday party at the spur of the moment. The crowd went wild, and there's not even any comparison between what Donna still does today and what Chaka Khan squawks out on Ellen these days. Donna left the show at that point. Jasmine sang "Everlasting Love" and "It's Raining Men" last night. Donna said "It's pretty good and you have some range problems"..."and I didn't think it was great." Respectively. She turned out safe, believe it or not!!!! LaToya sang an unmemorable first song (at least I can't remember it) and "Don't Leave Me This Way." Donna said "You were beautiful," and "fabulous" respectively. Simon said it was as good as the original by Thelma Houston. LaToya did a shameless rip off of Ms. Houston's trademark moves, motions, and camera musings that have been the hallmark of her standard and classic performance. It was a good tribute, but not very original. LaToya was also in the bottom two. The crowd booed outrageously!!! Simon was surprised at Jasmine's success but completely understood Diana's position. He acquiesced that America will decide the show. Paula thinks America has got this wrong. Randy thinks the two best singers are in the bottom and doesn't know what's really going on or who they are listening to...I can tell you, Hilary Duff and Britney Spears! The two bottom finishing girls were very gracious and professional about the results. The commercials featured Simon Cowell saying that he has very exciting news about American Idol IV. I bet it's that Donna will be a full time judge. On return, Ryan announced that LaToya would be leaving and Fantasia would be staying. LaToya gave a gracious good-bye and sang "Don't Rain On My Parade" as a closing song. Paula Abdul cried and so did Fantasia (who looked eerily like Gloria Gaynor!!!). The last performance was quite fine. So, that's about all from The T. It's not the red carpet and I'm not as bitchy as Joan Rivers at the Oscars, but it's live from Hollywood! 'Til I know more, keep the lid on it and vote for Diana! The T

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