Final Fantasy Shrine Idol

[Agent0042]

Right, enough of this. If I get that clarification from IDX, then I'll go ahead and post his thoughts as well. Otherwise, full speed ahead. Here's the analysis from our judges on the first round:


Agent0042's Judgments:


anyname
"What the Hell?"

A rather lively, upbeat song. I'm not sure if this one really highlights your voice, but I thought that you had a lot of fun with it. Also, it felt like you were really into the song. Strong production values to. I would say for the next round, focus on strong, clear vocals and try a different type of song to give us a chance to know you better.

nadasaki
"Never Gonna Give You Up"

We have a new competitor in the competition, nadasaki! A very deep voice on this one. It had sort of like a country tone to me. Some parts of it felt like it were sung a bit too fast for me, which didn't do the quality of the performance any favors in my opinion. Moving forward, you could take two different paths - show us something totally different or continue to try for this smooth, familiar country feel.

Marceline
"Your Song"

Unfortunately, not quite as good as I had expected, A lot of it felt very sharp and loud to me. It didn't feel to me like you really felt this one at all. For the future, I would focus on trying to find a connection to the song and one that better suits your voice.

Oh, and for the future, please specify the original artist for the song. I was able to find the info easily enough, but this will be helpful going forward.


CC's Judgments:

moltresflare – Okay, I realize you said you're not going to participate, but I truly felt the need to comment on your video; your voice is incredible! I'm sorry you don't want to be a performer, because I highly enjoyed what I heard. I won't score you seeing as you aren't competing, but I felt the need to congratulate you on a song very well sung Hope to hear more!

anyname – I'm very impressed with the way you managed to stay right on with the beat even without music. The way you record two different parts as though it's a duet with yourself is pretty impressive Very fun song to listen to, and I felt that your voice was on a very solid key 95% of the time. A few places here and there where you sort of went off key only a bit, but for the most part this was a very stable performance that does the original song justice.

nadasaki – First off, your voice is perfect for this song! Do you realize that? I'm serious! A little pitchy at the beginning, but it quickly develops into a powerful piece that is very noteworthy. Really, the only problem I have with this is that it doesn't really stay with the beat as well as it could, but it's sort of made up for by the fact that your pipes are superb for this song. I'm gonna have to take a couple points off just for the fact that the rhythm isn't consistent, but you'll hear no other complaints from me.

Marceline – Wow! Your voice has a very soulful quality to it as well, similar to nadasaki's. I'm highly impressed with your vocal range, and it plays out very nicely. There are just a couple of places where it seems a tad bit off key, but these moments are brief and far between. Very emotional piece, too! I could honestly 'feel' the lyrics as you sang them, as though it were being sung directly to me.


johnnyjohn's Judgments

Anyname
"What the Hell"

The lyrics and music gives this song quite an extroverted upbeat personality but felt at times
the singing was a bit introverted not on the beat. But the vocals especially in the
higher end was nice and enjoyed the touch that you did at 3:00 in the background. Should've
picked a song that suited to your vocal range cuz your higher register sounds good but what the hell....your singing grew on me the more times I listened to it.

Nadasaki
"Never Gonna Give You Up"

Thought you picked the right song for your voice since the notes felt strong in your register and you sang with feeling. When you sang you summoned a Japanese Elvis into my head. He was a on the floor and light was slipping into his dark room from broken windows. He was holding a beer bottle with one hand and writing the lyrics to this song with his other hand. He was telling me things incoherently but I could tell from his passionate eyes that he either recently broke up with s1 he loved or had his warcraft account hacked. Btw Hyde was there too.
It was a bizarre trip....anyways the higher registers could be clearer too...though felt like a "hit and run" whenever you reach for those high notes. Too bad you didn't sing it with guitar cuz it would've sounded better.

Marceline
"Your Song"

Thought you sang with feeling....especially the way you hold your long notes. Liked your style. Would be better if there was music to accompany you, preferably a jazz band cuz that's the image that I get when I listen to your song...lol no puns intended.



So, that's the judgments for this round. It seems I have had a rather different opinion of Marceline's, and after listening again, well, sorry, but I'm not inclined to change it. No scores for right now, since we agreed we'd do a couple more rounds before making a cut.

I'm going to give 24 hours and then I'll announce the next round. In the meantime, if anyone has any ideas for a theme they'd like to see, please post it here. I'm asking that you keep it kinda general because I don't want to limit people's choices too greatly. So it needs to be something pretty broad, such as songs of a particular decade, or any song about a particular subject, such as love.

[anyname]

i did have lots of fun singing the song! it puts me in a good mood so i felt that even though it isn't very intense vocally, i thought i should take a risk and show the energetic side, since people have complained about the lack of it sometimes in my submissions.

---------- Post added at 11:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------

i also know my song choices for next time. have two in my head and gotta decide which i like better

[Chocolate Misu]

johnnyjohn's Judgments

Nadasaki
"Never Gonna Give You Up"

Thought you picked the right song for your voice since the notes felt strong in your register and you sang with feeling. When you sang you summoned a Japanese Elvis into my head. He was a on the floor and light was slipping into his dark room from broken windows. He was holding a beer bottle with one hand and writing the lyrics to this song with his other hand. He was telling me things incoherently but I could tell from his passionate eyes that he either recently broke up with s1 he loved or had his warcraft account hacked. Btw Hyde was there too.

ROFL! Jon's a hoot!

[Marceline]

Well, I mostly agree with you, Agent! Liked pieces of mine, but I didn't practice singing into my mic enough (it's not one that I can pull closer or further away like I usually do) and there were a lot of bits that came out either way too loud or way too soft. Glad I get to sing another week.

I have a pretty long list of songs in mind, and I feel like I'd be good with most any theme. Even country, if I can get away with Laura Nyro! And of course, you guys know I am ~quite the rapper~ The only theme I'm scared of is a sing your favorite song theme, since my favorite song is pretty hard to sing.

[anyname]

what's your favorite theme? and i like so many themes so idk what i'd pick!

[Marceline]

Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley.

[anyname]

oh, i misread! i thought you meant like, favorite tv or anime theme or something. my comment still stands though. my favorite song fluctuates so much! i can't decide because i love so many songs.

[aces4839]

ur not the only one...im 99.9% sure on that.

[jonnyjohn]

Hey guys ! enjoyed listening to u all, looking forward to the next round and hopefully better song choices will be picked and yeah, ......what we didn't tell you is that we have snipers already in their positions ready to execute given the signal (only the winner gets to survive!) so practise for your lives guys >

[Neg]

IDX passes through of his own will. The wandering samurai of Shrine.

The man, the myth, the legend <3

[Agent0042]

I now have judgments from the Wandering Samurai:


anyname
"What the Hell"

The thing I found most irksome was the way it was arranged. I know the song he sang but when listening to just his vocals I found the overlapping of his voice bothersome but in all honesty, I'd prefer it to be either in one whole take or if some editing is involved, at least make me believe it was done in one take. In terms of overall "feeling" I got while listening, it really didn't kick off until towards the middle. That's where I felt different vibes instead of feeling bored and I thought he portrayed that pretty well. Even sounded like he was really getting down and into it but it slowly started dying off towards the end. I like his voice but I just think it was the song itself at fault here, not the singer because I believe during the course of the competition, in another song is when he will shine.

Marceline
"Your Song"

I really liked her voice! Only thing that kept me from giving full marks were just two things. One is how it sounded like (to me) you were singing while nervous or tense. Not sure if this is how you normally sing but I've heard many people sing who were both relaxed or tense. The other is how it sounds like you were off key in a few moments and off pitch in a few others. Same as anyname, I believe a different song is where we will see you shine. But good job either way because this is a difficult song.

Nadasaki
"Never Gonna Give You Up"

Very impressed with this one actually but also noticed he got off pitch at some points. Also not really a big fan of altering ones voice to sound like the original either and if this is how he originally sings, then I apologize because I took that into my scoring. Noticed the passion of his words also didn't kick in until later and like anyname, when it kicked in it was done well. Other than that, I didn't really find a whole lot wrong with it. Very curious as to how he will be later on.



Anyway, I've decided, and the theme for the new round is "Songs of the 2000s." That includes anything up until now. So, Final Fantasy Shrine Idol contestants, you have one week to show me what you can do with any one song from the modern era! Good luck, and keep in mind the judges' commentary from the previous round when putting together your performances!

[nadasaki]

Awesome! Just want to leave a few quick replies before rushing off to choose the next song.
@Marceline
Really dig the voice, and as someone else mentioned it IS a difficult song but you clearly stand out. With some fine tuning, you would sound like Portishead
@WanderingSamurai
I was in fact altering my voice but not to impersonate the original as much as to try to sing it the way I felt it was appropriate for the song itself. I will perhaps alter my voice again if needed in my next one, but doesn't it just show the diversity of my skill?
@JonnyJohn
I'm flattered that you would compare me to a japanese Elvis, LOL

[Agent0042]

LOL - it seems that by coincidence the theme I chose is also what American Idol is using for next week.

[IDX]

I was in fact altering my voice but not to impersonate the original as much as to try to sing it the way I felt it was appropriate for the song itself. I will perhaps alter my voice again if needed in my next one, but doesn't it just show the diversity of my skill?

I guess. To me it just doesn't seem "original". It's the same way for me with cover bands. I myself will never be a part of it and it took a year to finally agree with my old band to cover just one song. I can alter my voice to sound like many different artists such as Johnny Cash, one of the Backstreet Boys, or even the vocalist of Saosin. But those aren't how I sound when I'm singing naturally and usually when it comes to singing competitions, people tend to sing using their own voice, not mimicking the voice of the original vocalist. I'm not saying you suck or anything but there's a reason why I said I was curious as to how you would be during the competition because I feel you can sing, but I want to hear the your voice. If I wanted to hear a close impersonation then I'd just listen to the original.

But like I said, it's just one of those things for me. Hell, I get pissed hearing an old techno song I heard when growing up, thinking how awesome it is that it's being played, just to hear some retard in the background rapping to it. I prefer originality over "remixes" and stuff like that.

[Marceline]

@Marceline
Really dig the voice, and as someone else mentioned it IS a difficult song but you clearly stand out. With some fine tuning, you would sound like Portishead

I'm a huge fan of Beth Gibbons so this is truly awesome to hear from someone, thank you. <3

I can totally get the Japanese Elvis thing! Not saying you sound like a cover singer but there are definite similarities in the tones of your voices.

[anyname]

idk if i'll be able to perform in the next round. i'm sick and my voice sounds terrible.

[Agent0042]

Sorry to hear that! Hope you feel better soon.

Hmm. I suppose I could let you sit it on it for right now until you're feeling better, and then let you submit it late. I was planning to have at least one more round before someone is eliminated anyway. Do you think that might work? In any case, by all means, don't stress over this - you just concentrate on getting better.


How's everybody else doing? Performances are supposed to be in by tomorrow evening if we go by the schedule, but if anyone needs more time, I'm willing to grant it, given what's happening with anyname.

[Marceline]

I moved and was sick this weekend, so a few extra days would be appreciated, but I can still get a submission in in time. Was planning on recording tomorrow.