Elliott Yamin - Season 5

[tdoug]

I'd be afraid to fix his teeth if I was in charge. Remember the Swan? Whenever those girls got veneers they talked weird because they weren't used to their new teeth. Elliot's voice is fantastic as is. And I don't think his teeth look yellow or rotten (like Bucky's and Kevin's), they're just not aligned very well. Also his jaw juts out (overbite? underbite? whatever.) so it would probably need a more invasive kind of treatment. Maybe if they changed his hair and some other little things it would help people overlook his less-than-perfect pearls and we could keep listening to his velvety voice.

Remember Extreme Makeover and the Da Vinci Veneers? These people who had only slightly skewed teeth would get this new set of fake, blindingly white, way-too-big choppers. They looked like evil grinning mannequins or something. It was truly scary.

And you're right, Elliott's teeth aren't discolored, just crooked. Maybe he should wear a grill, like Paul Wall. That would give him some street cred.

[Remus Lupin]

Why is everybody so concerned with the teeth , have you guys ever seen Tom Cruise before he became famous ?

Elliotts performance was just great.
I didn`t know that was a Stevie Song.
Listening to it reminded me of this TV show "Moonlighting" with Cybill Shepherd , the song had this classy mood.
I would listen to that cruising around in my car at night.

I think everyone who's anyone in the R&B world has sung Moody's Mood for Love at some point.

Not sure if Stevie Wonder ever recorded it though.

I found this post on the official AI message forum:

Well, Paula goes, "You did Stevie Wonder proud" when Elliott finished his song. But duh; he said right before he sang it that he was going to do "Moody's Mood for Love," which is not a Wonder song. I have all of Stevie's albums; I'd never heard him do it.

It's a song that is in the style known as vocalese. The Manhattan Transfer made vocalese popular there for awhile. Vocalese (pronounced vocal-EASE) is usually where a singer sings words to a famous instrumental solo. I think scat music also falls under vocalese, as does be-bop.

A guy named Eddie Jefferson wrote lyrics to a saxophone solo that a guy named James Moody played to the song "I'm In The Mood For Love." So he essentially put words to this guy's sax riff. A guy named King Pleasure first achieved popularity by singing this Eddie Jefferson song. Pleasure's recording in 1952 is considered a jazz classic.

Yeah, too bad vocalese isn't that popular right now, because Elliott can do that kind of music great. His vibratto sounds a bit like Johnny Mathis in that song he did last night.

Elliott does have the best voice in the competition as it stands. I hope he wins because I'd buy his album.

--Katy S.

[Kyle]

Katy S. wrote she would buy his album if he wins.
My problem with that is ; AI winners get a bunch of commercial , forgettable stuff written for them.
I cannot remember any song title by any AI winner.

Ok , i have to admit i watch AI solely for being good TV , good entertainment.
While getting kind of excited when the show is on , i couldn`t care less for any of the contestants after the final episode.

If Elliott should win , i doubt they would let him record anything that would be played on my beloved smoothjazz.com ( which i listen to when i`m in a Jazzy mood ).

[Remus Lupin]

Katy S. wrote she would buy his album if he wins.
My problem with that is ; AI winners get a bunch of commercial , forgettable stuff written for them.
I cannot remember any song title by any AI winner.

Ok , i have to admit i watch AI solely for being good TV , good entertainment.
While getting kind of excited when the show is on , i couldn`t care less for any of the contestants after the final episode.

If Elliott should win , i doubt they would let him record anything that would be played on my beloved smoothjazz.com ( which i listen to when i`m in a Jazzy mood ).

Not even "A Moment Like This"?

[dahoney7]

I think everyone who's anyone in the R&B world has sung Moody's Mood for Love at some point.

Not sure if Stevie Wonder ever recorded it though.

I found this post on the official AI message forum:

I'm a HUGE Stevie Wonder fan and while I admit I don't know EVERY song of his, I had never heard of him singing that. I thought it was weird when they mention Stevie though Elliott and Ryan specifically said James Moody. Oh well.

[Kyle]

Not even "A Moment Like This"?

?

I wouldn`t know.....

I find new music in unconventional ways , mostly on the internet.
I like Dance Music from Europe , http://www.radiofg.com/ is a good source , they have an online radio station.
When i`m in the mood i listen to smoothjazz.com .

I don`t listen to FM radio anymore , FM is dead.
This "every kind of music for everybody" just doesn`t work.

MTV doesn`t exist for me , i don`t want to "watch" music.
Let the music speak for itself...don`t have to dress it up.

The best thing they came up with lately is satellite radio.
Being able to listen to a radio station with only one kind of music has a future.
People are just not willing anymore to waste time with stuff they don`t want.

[snoopy]

While I too love Stevie Wonder, I would love to hear his beautiful voice singing something with more of a rock ballad sound, or even some Van Morrison. But if he wants to stick with the Stevie thing, there is a song called "I Believe", that first came to my attention on the "High Fidelity" soundtrack, a movie with John Cusack. (Which, on a totally unrelated note, Toni Ferrari of Kill Reality fame claims a film credit on- I have seen the film 50 times, and I don't see her!) Anyway, at the very end of the movie, John's character dedicates this song to his girlfriend- the first line goes "I believe when I fall in love with you, it will be forever", and it's the best Stevie song I have ever heard, and I never heard it on the radio. Elliot would do it justice and then some.

[Gutmutter]

I wouldn't write off a good Elliot Yamin CD yet. AI contenders have gone on to record country, classics, and gospel, why not jazz?

[Muduh]

Okay, maybe many here agree that when Elliot was a child, his mother should have spent the rent money on braces for his teeth. What on earth does that have to do with his voice? And then, on page one of this discussion, someone apparently found it newsworthy that they thought he looks Amish, Mennonite, or whatever. Again, what does that have to do with his voice?

He has a wonderful voice, and until the contestants are subjected to a complete physical and dental examination to decide who stays and who goes, I just don't see the point in all the tooth discussion. Almost everyone who has won the title has had some serious flaws.

Elliot has a very pleasant voice to listen to. He may be the most appealing male contestant to a lot of people. I, for one, will be paying very close atention to him on the show, and really wish great things for him. There are some really good voices this year and, to me, he's one of the best.

[jasminefan]

In fact I would rather he not do anything to his teeth lest it might change the way he enunciates words or something. I love his voice the way it is now. I think it's reported somewhere that his teeth condition is due to his diabetes. Poor guy..