Elliott Yamin - Season 5

[roundercat]

I agree something is lacking from the track and it is not elliotts voice. the version that he sang on last weeks show was far superior....

[tdoug]

You can now (legally) download Elliott's compilation track, Moody's Mood For Love, from iTunes. You can also listen to the full thing and everyone else's selections here.

I've listened repeatedly, and I have to say, the arrangement leaves a little to be desired. [/huge understatement]

Elliott's voice is gorgeous as always. His phrasing and dynamics are excellent, and the tone in his voice is so rich, and warm and gritty. Like good coffee or chocolate sauce. He sounds amazing.

Unfortunately, all of that is backed by what sounds like a keyboard tuned to "jazz." It's really distracting, all of the synth in the backbeat, and random, tinny sounding sax riffs coming out of nowhere. Oy.

Of course, I can overlook all of this and focus on just the wonderful voice. Elliott really does shine here; it's so cool to hear him finally wrap his voice around a complete song. He does a great job emoting and building the song, and I am thrilled to get a taste of his recording style -- smooth and not too heavy on the adlibs or runs, but just enough variation in his phrases to keep things interesting. Definitely whets my appetite for some original Elliott music.

You know, I really think the CD's producer didn't have a clue how to set Elliott's vocals to music. To be honest, I don't hate the arrangement -- to me it's just uninspired. But Elliott's voice and the song are so different from the usual karaoke-quality tracks on these AI albums that I just think the studio techs were at a loss. Despite this, I still think it is hands down the best song on the disc -- it's the only one that shows true originality and is not just an incredible simiulation. (Or not so incredible...Katharine!)

[bj007]

Elliot is #24 on itunes

[MotherSister]

Fans of Elliott: pop over to the Amazon page for the Encores CD. Elliott's getting all kinds of love (read: more than the others) for his Moody's Mood. It's remarkable.

[jasminefan]

Sigh, Elliott would have tore up that crap that that's masquerading as a winner's single. What a shame.

Elliot is #24 on itunes

Take that Nigel & Simon.

[natashapierre]

Fans of Elliott: pop over to the Amazon page for the Encores CD. Elliott's getting all kinds of love (read: more than the others) for his Moody's Mood. It's remarkable.

Read "way way way way way more than others." .... Out of about 50 reviews at the present time, 40 or more are pretty much nothing but paeans to Elliott. Well deserved. I hope our boy takes a look at that. And I hope that Nigel and company don't (small chance, of course).

A rumor is about that 19 actually *is* now interested in exercising their option on Elliott, a thought that chills my spine. Either they would present him with the craptacular music that so made Katherine and Taylor stars last night (and served Carrie, Bo, etc., equally well in the past ... not), or, more likely, they would just be holding the option and basically doing nothing with it simply to prevent his career track from rolling over those of their chosen idols.

Get a good lawyer *quick*, Elliott.

[yourefired]

19E has done a lowsy job with the MUSIC careers of Tamyra Gray and Kimberley Locke. Fortunately, they both found other avenues, but I don't think they did them justice. I also think they blew it with Justin Guarini's cd. Unchained Melody as a first single?????? PUH-LEEZE!!!!!!!

There are pros and cons to 19E signing him, though. The biggest pro is that he will definitely have some management and promotion staff at his disposal. The biggest con is that they don't always make the right decisions.

I would somewhat compare Elliott to A-Fed from last year. A-Fed has an amazing voice. Sure he was a bit inconsistent, but I'd blame that more on his age and nerves than his voice. 19E passed on him, and he's fallen into oblivion.

In fact, only Josh Gracin rings in my mind as a SUCCESSFUL contestant that 19E took a pass on. He sure showed them.

I do have to wonder if the rest of the industry would take him seriously if 19E took a pass. I guess it's a crapshoot either way. I hope he does well, but I just fear that he'll either suffer the bad management of 19E or no management at all. And either way is unacceptable with such a big talent.

[jasminefan]

I hope to god 19E passes up on Elliott. After listening to the dreck they made Kat and Taylor sing, I dread the thought of Elliott making an entire cd out of that.

[Remus Lupin]

19E has done a lowsy job with the MUSIC careers of Tamyra Gray and Kimberley Locke. Fortunately, they both found other avenues, but I don't think they did them justice. I also think they blew it with Justin Guarini's cd. Unchained Melody as a first single?????? PUH-LEEZE!!!!!!!

There are pros and cons to 19E signing him, though. The biggest pro is that he will definitely have some management and promotion staff at his disposal. The biggest con is that they don't always make the right decisions.

I would somewhat compare Elliott to A-Fed from last year. A-Fed has an amazing voice. Sure he was a bit inconsistent, but I'd blame that more on his age and nerves than his voice. 19E passed on him, and he's fallen into oblivion.

In fact, only Josh Gracin rings in my mind as a SUCCESSFUL contestant that 19E took a pass on. He sure showed them.

I do have to wonder if the rest of the industry would take him seriously if 19E took a pass. I guess it's a crapshoot either way. I hope he does well, but I just fear that he'll either suffer the bad management of 19E or no management at all. And either way is unacceptable with such a big talent.

I think 19Evil has made a lot of BAD decisions. It took them over a year to get Kelly's debut album out, even later with Justin's album, and had the two of them make that execrable movie. Then they and the record company thought it would be a good idea to release Ruben's and Clay's debut singles at the same time - only to see the runner-up badly trounce the winner. They corrected that gaffe and had them release their albums far apart so that each could claim #1 sales in their respective debut weeks.

You already mentioned Tamyra and K-Lo. Did they have much to do with Diana DeGarmo finding success on Broadway? They certainly didn't do much to help promote her album.

[MotherSister]

Get a good lawyer *quick*, Elliott.

I'll pay.

I know there could possibly be advantages to E being signed by 19Evil, but no! Elliott should not be in their clutches, when they have proven over and over again that they are more than willing to let a good artist languish in the shadows, or suffer with sub-substandard material and promotion. If 19 does want him, I'm more than inclined to believe they just want to keep Elliott quiet until his option expires and his limelight cache is severely depleted. I have trouble believing that Simon, Clive, et al. will do right by him because they don't know how to without stepping on Taylor's toes, and they certainly won't be doing anything to compromise the winner's success.

There are also rumors circulating that 2 different labels are interested in Elliott, and the rumors are coming from pretty convincing sources. None of it can really be verified of course, but I'm choosing to believe that if 19Evil passes (please Lord, please!) then there are competent and influential alternatives waiting in the wings.