First Round: Final 12 male entrants 2/20/2007
First Round: Final 12 female entrants 2/21/2007
Second Round: Final 10 male entrants 2/27/2007
Second Round: Final 10 female entrants 2/28/2007

Second Round: Final 10 female entrants - 2/28/2007

1. Gina Glocksen: “Alone”

Gina your initial attack of the first word set the tone of the song. The first word was “I” which you pronounced as “Hi”. The way you attacked the start of intonation was with an aspirate or “H”. An aspirate attack like this diminishes the impact of the word intended and while in the low part of your voice you continued almost every attack with an “H”. So the clarity and impact of the verse was diluted. With the chorus your attacks then tended to push the pitch high. Setting the attack as an aspirate dictated that you push the tone and the pitch suffered accordingly. Try an exceedingly short grunt an octave below the pitch as the attack for any word and immediately pull the tone down and into your gut to set your intonation as inspiration. This will stabilize your pitches and open the tone. As you inspire your intonation we will be inspired with your message.

2. Alaina Alexander: “No Ready To Make Nice”

Grimacing, muddy words, pitch, rhythm, pushing all add up to unfocused commitment. Alaina, the same criticisms applies this week as they did last week. Try not to count the beat with your hands and feet. You had too many gestures. So many that you were keeping the beat with your hands and feet. Not only were we distracted by so much gesturing but so were you. Gesturing cannot make up for lack of focus. Focus first on your vocal expression making your gestures few and absolutely on purpose, and keep the beat in your gut with the intonation. Remember in performance less is more.

3. Lakisha Jones: “Midnight Train To Georgia”

Lakisha this performance was not as clear and focused as last week. Your voice is wonderful, trust it and leave the dancing to the backup girls. Keep your focus voice and do not be distracted by choreography. You lost the center of your voice and it showed.

4. Melinda Dolittle: “My Funny Valentine”

A star is not an individual but a character developed by team. Without a system of satellites a star is a rogue. Melinda, you are not a rogue and your planetary system proves it. Professionalism is the product of planning and preparation. You’ve got professionalism. Vocally I would encourage you to focus the intensity of your expression into your breath and calm your facial expressions. “When you open” your mouth to sing do not portray the word with your mouth, but let it open down and into your toes with your breath while the mouth stays placid. What we want is the opening of the tone in inspiration, not a portrayal of the expression but the reality of it.

5. Antonella Barba: “Because You Love Me”

Antonella, the chewing and grimacing again affected your pitch. Your jaw is thrusting forward particularly locking your pitch in the wrong place and quality of the tone is diminished as well. Place your left index finger delicately on your chin and you will feel the thrusting of your jaw. This touch will also show you where the placement of the voice should be as it will direct your jaw down and back. The coordination of the jaw should be to provide a foundation for the tongue to thrust forward against. Your tongue is the place of vocal control. Again the face and mouth are not the medium of expression in singing. The voice is the medium of singing and expression and the tongue is the master of the voice.

6. Jordin Sparks: “Reflection”

Jordin biting and mouthing the words is getting in the way of your voice. Your voice is too beautiful to allow such distraction. Try looking in the mirror as you practice and keep your face as calm as possible. Touch your face gently with your left hand to find the facial tension that should not be there. Let your voice carry the emotion that is its job. Your face should just be beautiful and it does that job well.

7. Stephanie Edwards: “Dangerously In Love”

If you had sung the whole song as you ended it, you would have been right on. Don’t let your body try do what your lovely voice should be doing. The gestures got you distracted until you took control at the end. Keep the center of your voice.

8. Leslie Hunt: “Feeling Good”

Pushed tones invariably lead to pitch problems. Your vocalization was too heavy for you to carry. The words were not clear because of the pushing as well. Gestures also got in your way. Gesture as little as possible and then the power of your voice will come to the front. Stay focused in your voice. Focus is your watch word.

9. Haley Scarnato: “Queen Of The Night”

Haley in this performance you pushed and grimaced and the clarity of your voice suffered. Upbeat doesn’t mean pushed up. Stand up and sing, move fluidly with focused intent. Make the audience dance with the dancing of your voice.

10. Sabrina Sloan: “All The Man That I Need”

Keep it up, Sabrina. You sing well, but would sing better if you could narrow your tongue instead of spreading your mouth to find the open quality of higher tones. You can accomplish the tongue narrowing by pressing it firmly and more firmly against the back of the lower teeth and not touching the side of the tongue to the side teeth. The space between your tongue and the sides of the mouth is the sweet spot. Find that space by narrowing the tongue. In doing so you will find that the voice becomes stronger and freer.

Second Round: Final 10 male entrants - 2/27/2007

1. Phil Stacy “Missing You”

Phil, you have a beautiful voice. As you practice and prepare your next piece, when you approach the high tone look for the lowest place before the high phrase with similar vowel structure and set the production of the lower tone as you need to produce the vowel in the high phrase. This will give you a foundation to bounce to the high tone. Also practice the high phrase with your face totally relaxed and put all that intensity into your voice. After you have the phrase working then add facial expression keeping the intensity in your voice. Pull the high tones into your torso and down to your pelvis. The high tones will begin to screech in your head as never before; that is very good. Ask others, they will agree.

2. Jared Cotter “Let’s Get it On”

You reduced making faces, relax your face more Jared. Place the emphasis on your tongue. Show us your eyes by lifting your brows as you approach high tones. Keep your jaw down and back as the foundation for the tongue. Think of your body movements as if flying like a bird on the air. You should feel the tone pulled into your breast is if by wings that you beat from your gut. Rise with the inspiration (in breath) to the high climbs of the tone, straining to pull it down and into your groin. Your stomach should protrude out and down. Descend the scale by slowly releasing the breath pulling your stomach in and up (out breath). The low tones can almost be pushed out.

3. A. J. Tabaldo “Feelin’ Good”

A. J., your jaw is jutting forward and your mouth is chewing the words. To correct this misalignment, gently place the index finger of your left hand on your cheek and your little finger on your chin and sing your song. This touching will make you feel like you are yawning. This is a reflexive response and is the optimum position of your jaw. Try not to spread you mouth but instead narrow your tongue to achieve the space you need for the tone.

4. Sanjaya Malakar “Steppin’ Out With My Baby”

Sanjaya, you sang this song with a soft breathy tone throughout. Try calling the song as clearly and loudly as you can. Should actually be easy to make loud sounds. To sing softly with intensity is your need. Keeping the intensity in your voice as you sing softer will require all the strength you have. Singing softly requires the most and best control of your vocal production. Practice whining the song to find the edge to your emotional expression.

5. Chris Sligh “Trouble”

Chris this time you sang with more control over your pitches and stabilized you mouth better, but you can do more. You have a fine big voice; find the center of your voice in the center of your tongue. Your tongue is the place where you will find the control. Narrow your tongue to make the vowels. Pull the high tones into your pelvis as you narrow and stretch your tongue from the back of the center lower teeth back to the rear of your hard pallet. Reach up with the back of your tongue for high tones and lift your brows; they will work easily.

6. Nicholas Pedro “Fever”

High tones are not up, they are down, Nick. Your instrument is formed like a cello or string bass. High tones are toward the bridge or down. Find your high tones at your groin. That is where your bridge is. And you do not need the grimacing. Grimacing makes you look pained and hurt, and makes your voice sound that way as well. You are also using lots of breathiness. Pull the tone instead. You will sing forever if you sing with inspiration (breathing in as in a yawn).

7. Blake Lewis “Virtual Insanity”

Your vocal intonation was in line in this song, Blake. I liked your scatting and the falsetto. The pitch problems toward the end were caused by pushing the breath, just pull it.

8. Brandon Rogers “Time After Time”

Facial histrionics only impinge on the ability of the voice to produce emotive content. Brandon you will find that center in your tongue. Try singing the song without using your lips, just your tongue. And grimacing reduces the effectiveness of your tone and voice.

9. Chris Richardson “Geek In The Pink”

Chris, your falsetto is still not connected. Try yawning into the falsetto and adding a little whine as well. Yawn into all ascending melodies.

10. Sundance Head “Mustang Sally”

Sundance your “stage fright” is better. The “scream singing” is potentially damaging to your voice. When you produce a high tone be very sure to “call” it. Then producing the tone will not hurt. Add as much stress and squeal as you need to make it sound like a scream. Try not to grimace but do a stress yawn instead.

First Round: Final 12 female entrants - 2/21/2007

1. Stephanie Edwards

Stephanie’s problems stem from biting and mouthing the words. The words are the message of the song and when they are produced with chewing action in the jaw the message is muddled. Achieving clear vowel structures that sustain their quality through your melodic range will enhance your excellent singing, Stephanie.

2. Amy Krebs

Amy is mouthing her words and spreading her vowel structures, as well as pushing resulting in inconsistent pitches and intonation. Chewing is a major reflex trigger for preparing to swallow and will dominate the reflex of vocal production, diminishing the capability of the voice to sing. The purpose of the lower jaw in phonation is to be the anvil or foundation on which the tongue works. Learn to make your language with your tongue. The lips and cheeks should remain passive. Try touching your chin and dimples as you sing with your left hand. Your will find that your vocal production improves. *Also, pull the melody into your gut as you ascend in the scale and when you sustain a tone. As the melody descends allow your breath to rise with the descent.

3. Leslie Hunt

Leslie has problems with pitch. Many of these kinds of problems are caused by confusion in how to use the breath (*see Amy’s critique). Intonation means producing tones or pitches with inward breath control. Inhalation is obviously not going to work, but inspiration will. Inspiration is achieved when you are calling as opposed to shouting and is integral to the expression of emotions. Grimacing is contradictory to efficient and optimum vocal production. Leslie, let your tongue be the workhorse of your singing. It is called the “lingus” and is the language organ.

4. Sabrina Sloan

Sabrina sang well. Keep it up, Sabrina. Try singing through each song using only the vowels and when you have gotten the vowels to be consistent throughout the song add the consonants. You will probably find that the vowels get shifted away from their optimum placement. Clean up that inconsistency and let the emotions you intend play you as the instrument.

5. Antonella Barba

Antonella chews and grimaces and her pitch suffers. Again the face and mouth are not the medium of expression in singing. The voice is the medium of singing and expression is best served by allowing the voice to create the intonation of intent. Your tongue is the joy-stick of your voice. With your tongue you will have the control you desire.

6. Jordin Sparks

Jordin’s low tones lack focus. This is partially caused by her age. To help you focus your lower notes try growling on pitch and let the pitches rumble inside you. As you ascend to high tones try to pull them down to your pelvis. The low tone will reside just under your chin.

7. Nicole Tranquillo

Nicole grimaces and pushes her intonation. Her pitch accuracy is good. Consonation requires a push but intonation requires a pull. The muscles of your face should be at rest with the exception of the brows which should lift and the jaw should drop down and back for high tones. Compare these actions with the actions of a yawn. You have been taught this. Nicole continue your studies, they are serving you well.

8. Haley Scarnato

Haley has Broadway style down. Pop style has more subtlety because of the closeness of the audience in a cabaret and the closeness of the camera in broadcast. Broadway plays bigger because the theatre places the audience further away. The expression of finer emotional content is your goal Haley. Relax and get intimate.

9. Melinda Dolittle

Melinda sings in a cross style between Aretha and Tina. Nothing to criticize but the extraneous facial expressions. Find the expression first in your voice then add a smidgeon (a tiny little bit) of facial expression, done with absolute intent and on purpose. The mere lifting of a brow place judicially will achieve more impact that all the grimaces.

10. Alaina Alexander

Grimacing, muddy words, pitch, rhythm, pushing all add up to unfocused commitment. Alaina, move all of these emotional expression into your voice. Remember that the message is in the words, don’t chew them, let your tongue wrap around them. Pull all of that energy into you and let it pass through to the audience. You are the instrument of their energy; let them play you as you play with them. Remember singing is playing.

11. Gina Glocksen

Gina’s high tones tend to spread. Gina, the way your vocal cords work is that they close to make sound. Clapping is the easiest example of that process. Spreading the cheeks and tongue is opposite the vocal process to work to narrow the tongue and don’t use the cheeks and lips except to make consonants. Also, drop your jaw down to make high tones.

12. Lakisha Jones

Lakisha is on the mark. Lakisha you drove a finishing nail in this audition with and ten pound sledge hammer and didn’t leave a dimple in the pristine surface of our mind. That is art. Even though you... , like the others, ...over employed your facial expressions you never left the center of your voice with those expressions. That is most difficult to achieve. How much greater can you be if you let your exquisite voice carry all of that expression?

First Round: Final 12 male entrants - 2/20/2007

1. Rudy Cardenas

Rudy’s greatest problem is the placement of his intonation. The pitches were OK, but the placement of tones was inconsistent and not focused resulting in a weak vocal presentation. To sing with continuity and clearly focused intent you will need to develop vowels that are consistently produced throughout the scope of your vocal range. The consistency of the vowel structures is built on the control of the breath and its placement in optimum coordination of the tongue and focusing the pitch in its reflexive posture.

2. Brandon Rogers

Brandon performs with flare but limits the true expressive quality of his voice with extraneous facial grimaces (a criticism common with many in this audition). The voice is the fundamental instrument for the expression of emotion. Facial histrionics only impinge on the ability of the voice to produce emotive content. If the voice isn’t expressing the emotion intended, facial grimacing will not help. And, if the face makes the shape of the emotion the voice will be limited. Brandon put your emotion in your voice, not your face.

3. Sundance Head

Sundance displayed his “stage fright” by pushing his vocal production. Think of the difference between the reflexive response of anybody when they are yelled at and when they are called. An audience is like a wild creature that will run away from a yell or scream, but will approach when called and cajoled. Singing should be primarily “calling”, with very short accents of reproach or warning to develop the resolution of invitation. Sundance, you primarily yelled or pushed and your intonation suffered.

4. Paul Kim

Paul was most affected by nerves, stage fright. Several times Paul has indicated that this was his last chance to sing and commented that what he really wanted was to go home. Paul, you have a brilliant talent with a huge lack of self confidence. Your talent will win over you fears. You will not be able to stop singing; the voice will not let you. Give in to your voice, it will heal your fears and bless you and all who hear you.

5. Chris Richardson

Chris has the beat, but the voice is not fully open as indicated by the weakness of his falsetto. Add some stress to your falsetto Chris and it will take on a richer quality with less of a drastic alteration of the melodic line of your voice.

6. Nick Pedro

Breathiness and screaming were the noticeable characteristics of Nick’s performance. These criticisms are also common with many singers. Try to make the emotions intended with a production derived from a “call”. Remember that producing a call is most times very loud, which is easy to produce. Calling softly is what is hard. The effort to call softly is the enigma engine that can capture an audience.

7. Blake Lewis

Blake’s use of the voice for percussive expression has been the unique attribute of his performance. But, the American Idol must sing. Blake your development of vocal Consonation has not been matched by the development of your vocal Intonation. To be able to sing you must develop your ability to Intonate to exceed you skill of percussive Consonation. Making that cross-over step can insure your future as a performer.

8. Sanjaya Malakar

Sanjaya’s exotic looks and easy vocal production are refreshing even if naďve in the breadth of expression. His tremendous sensitivity and empathy are the source of the freshness. Sanjaya as you mature and become more confident in the gift of your voice please keep your sympathetic ability. This ability can provide you the entrance into the hearts of your audience. As for now let your voice employ the emotions that roil in your being. Singing is the language of emotions, keep learning this language.

9. Chris Sligh

Chris excels in rhythmic expression. Although rhythm is the foundation of music it is not the only part. Intonation is required as well as the poetry. His intonation is inconsistent. As you approach high pitches you are collapsing the erection of the voice. Your voice works more like a guitar or cello than any other instrument. Think of your pelvis as the bridge and reach down. Open your lower jaw down as you focus your breath toward your pelvis. Look at the word “intonation”: Intonation is producing tones with inward breath. Compare a scream with a call: both are loud, the scream pushes air out and the call pulls air in. So the call is the direction you need. Also you bite or chew your words. Biting and chewing are reflexive triggers for swallowing and opposite to the voice, dominating and closing down the erection of the voice.

10. Jared Cotter

You are a heart throb; the girls can’t help but love you. Now let your voice do the work of throbbing the hearts of your audience. Let your voice carry the emotion and stop making faces. They are unattractive and limit the capability of your voice to express the emotions in the words. Also let your tongue make the words. The purpose of the jaw in vocal production is to be a foundation for the tongue. The back of the front two teeth of the lower jaw is the place that the tongue should seek in every syllable; and the vowels are made solely by the tongue.

11. A. J. Tabaldo

With this as the fifth audition series for A. J., familiarity in the audition process gives his confidence. HIs problem lies in his intonation. He is contradicting the intonation by pushing the sound he makes. The recommendation I have for you is to practice calling your songs before you perform them. Call until you feel the pitches in your body. Let your ear guide you in pitch but not in quality. The quality of the tone is found in how good you can make it feel in your body. The sound you will hear will be awful but feel so easy and pleasant that you won’t care.

12. Phil Stacy

His lower pitches were not focused or clear, rather muddy. As He ascended the scale of the melody he grimaced to control his voice. That is counterproductive. The work should be on the tongue. Try practicing your songs by singing them without using your lips. Touch your chin and cheeks to help shut down their extraneous use. As with the suggestion I made to the other singers, try calling as well. You have a great talent learn how to use your voice reflexively.