This week’s American Idol will be devoted to the songs of Dolly Parton, a theme that will allow for lots of Dolly facetime on the broadcast and Kristy Lee Cook saving herself for another week with a good-old-girl performance of a country song. While there are some song choices that seem to be gimmes (does anyone think that Syesha Mercado won’t bring Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” to the table?), others are more mysterious (what the heck is Michael Johns going to sing–”9 to 5″?). But one thing’s for sure: If David Cook whips out a take on “Jolene,” get ready for White Stripes fans far and wide to complain about one of their favorite covers being massacred by this guy–and for the Idol judges to wax rhapsodic about how “original” old Davey is because he draws inspiration from Chris Cornell and Incubus instead of Clive Davis and his proteges for the 10,000th time. I’m not going to assume that Simon, Randy, and/or Paula are reading this little blog, but if one of their interns does happen to keep tabs on it, please, bring the YouTube clip embedded after the jump to your bosses’ attention, if only to make them at least kinda look like they’ve been aware of music that was made sometime over the last 10 years.
White Stripes – Jolene [YouTube]
I love Dolly, but I think an all-Dolly theme is a terrible idea. A huge swath of the audience have no idea who Dolly Parton is and will recognize few of her songs.
Also — think about the poor contestants themselves. This is the same group that — nearly to a man — knew nothing about some of the most well-known songs in the Beatles catalog. There will be some terrible renditions of terrific songs this week, I fear.
You should probably re-tag this post with “FLOPWATCH”.
When my brother and I were little kids we had a 45 of Here You Come Again (which I can’t really figure out since neither parent were country fans), but the B-side was this pathetically sad song called Me and Little Andy about a little girl with drunken, abusive, absentee parents who shows up at the singer’s door looking for a bed to sleep in. And she dies! The dog too! My brother and I were obsessed and would listen to it over and over and over again.
It’s got Archuleta written all over it.
I’m going to be very upset if DC does the Stripes cover of “Jolene.” He should know better. It’s a more recent cover and we’ll all be expecting him to do it, so I’m hoping he’ll do something a little more straight for tomorrow night and NOT another alterna-country cover. Also hoping that IWALY is done Dolly-style and not Whitney-style. We owe Ms. Parton that much.
Whenever I think a particular Idol show is going to be a train wreck (Beatles I, Bon Jovi), it manages to surprise me by being decent. Here’s hoping tomorrow night goes the same!
Though obviously a ton of other people have covered it, The Geraldine Fibbers really did a better rocked-up take on “Jolene” about 5 years before the White Stripes did.
If Dolly’s cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine” makes that song eligible, you just know Michael Johns is going to be all over it.
@Rob Murphy: I’m with you – much like with the Beatles, I’ve always thought that Dolly’s songs were best sung by Dolly herself (especially since so many of them are enhanced by her huge personality, unique voice, or her own life story).
I suspect the guys will have a rough week, and among the girls I think Brooke might do better than expected, since she’s the only one who seems to have a voice that can show a bit more sensitivity/fragility, which would make it well suited for something like “Coat of Many Colors” or even – yes – the original Dolly version of “I Will Always Love You”…
I’m so dang sick of David Cook. His “Billie Jean” cover was predictable and boring as sin; all of his renditions sound the same. At least Kristy Lee Cook is funny in her badness.
The obvious alternative to “Jolene” is “Ghetto Supasta”, obviously.
Honestly, I wish one of the contestants had the gonads to do both the Dolly and Kenny Rogers parts in “Island in the Stream”.
Comment on Get Ready For David Cook To Rip Off Jack White On Tomorrow’s American Idol David Cook admitted in the beginning of this season that he studied
Daughtry’s rise on Idol and its pretty obvious he wants to follow in
Daughtry’s footsteps. But do we really need another Daughtry? And so
soon? I’d almost have preferred Amanda, if we had to have a rocker(if
only she sang better). I guess Cook stands out on Idol, but once he’s
off Idol will he really stand out from all the other generic,emo-haired
rockers out there? Is his voice really that remarkable? Is this Idol’s
contribution to the music world? In terms of stars, Idol’s contributed a
generic,pretty Country Barbie(who couldn’t hold a candle to
Patsy,Dolly,Loretta or Tammy), another generic,humorless,faceless
bald-headed Nickelback/Live/Fuel bandwagon-jumper and a painfully
closeted Broadway pop-crooner. I’m sparing Clarkson cause she has bigger
balls than Daughtry.
If Dolly’s cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine” makes that song eligible, you just know Michael Johns is going to be all over it.
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Honestly, I wish one of the contestants had the gonads to do both the Dolly and Kenny Rogers parts in “Island in the Stream”.
* * *
I’m guessing “The Songs Of Dolly Parton” is big enough to include the big hits she didn’t write (“Islands” was written by Barry Gibb), but if anyone wants to make an argument that it shouldn’t be, I’ll listen.
@Rob Murphy: It’s not a question of whether Dolly has enough hits to spread around between 9 contestants, it’s a question of whether she has enough not-totally-country hits to spread around between the 8 contestants who are emphatically not country singers.
@spinachdip: Too bad Chikezie is gone, because I can totally picture him doing that (both parts of IITS).
@Thierry: ZOMG I totally had that same thought. FTW!
If we’re talking songs specifically written BY Dolly Parton, then “Coat of Many Colors” seems like an obvious choice for KLC. But if we’re talking about songs covered and made famous by Dolly Parton, then my vote is for “Shaddap You Face.”
I’m hoping David Cook does Jessica Simpson’s take on “9 to 5″ from that Kennedy Center Honors ceremony. Embarrassed stomach clutching, sad mutterings of “I’m sorry”, early exit stage left and all.
I am going to have so many AI twatwaffles to kill with my bare hands after they murder a bunch of songs by one of my most beloved artists.
I just read: the Clarke Brothers will be performing on Wednesday night’s drawn out elimination show!! (And *not* as Dolly’s back up band)
wow, reading all this guesswork was fun!
I have to say I am very underwhelmed by today’s show. I didn’t know most of Dolly’s songs, and although everyone sang pretty well (except Ramiele the troll), I’m left with a ‘so what?’ feel
It didn’t seem like his usual style until it hit the end of the trailer, and I liked the recurring sound clip of her mother saying she’s a “sweet girl”. It’s so creepy!