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Michael Lynche's 'This Woman's Work' Brings Kara To Tears On 'American Idol'
Simon Cowell dubbed it 'the best performance we've had of all these live shows so far.'
By Gil Kaufman
Michael Lynche
Photo: Fox
Praise from the "American Idol" judges is one thing, but tears? That's when you know you've really nailed it.
And Michael Lynche definitely brought down the house Wednesday night (March 10) when he closed the top eight men's live performances with a seductive, between-the-sheets cover of one of British singer Kate Bush's most iconic tunes, "This Woman's Work," that made judge Kara DioGuardi openly weep.
Wearing a black suit coat with a red pocket square, black tie, jeans and a white dress shirt, the brawny Lynche opened with a fragile, operatic falsetto vocalization over piano that sent chills. The choice was a bold one, as Bush is a beloved figure and the song is a tricky-to-sing modern classic that has been used to dramatic effect in a number of TV shows over the years ("Felicity," "Alias," "Party of Five"). It was also famously covered by soul singer Maxwell on his 1997 MTV Unplugged album and later on his 2001 Now studio album, a version that clearly informed Lynche's take on the song.
Bush wrote it specifically for a sequence in the 1987 John Hughes film "She's Having a Baby," during which Kevin Bacon is pacing outside the delivery room where his wife is having their first child and he's fretting about the changes they're about to face and the rush of emotions he's feeling.
Making expert use of his breathy falsetto, Lynche, a new father whose firstborn arrived while he was toiling during Hollywood Week, wrenched every bit of emotion from the lyrics about life-changing events. "Ooh, it's hard on the man/ Now his part is over/ Now starts the craft of the father," he crooned in a clean, clear voice. On a night when the judges said some of the singers didn't connect with their chosen lyrics, Lynche astutely picked a song that mirrored the tumultuous adult changes he's going through in his personal life, helping to give the performance an added gravity and believability.
As he leaned into the second verse, Lynche came out from behind the mic stand and began laying a gospel edge on the song, shaking his head and shoulders, bobbing up and down and waving his hands as if giving a Sunday sermon. With a long, sustained note on the line "Oh, darling, make it go," Lynche provided the night's much-needed "wow" moment and easily punched his ticket to the top 12.
How good was it? DioGuardi was literally brought to tears. "I've never cried after hearing something like that," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "It's amazing. You were amazing. And it's so relevant for you, and I can feel it. It's your life right now. It's your respect for your wife, what you've gone through ... and as a woman who doesn't have a child, I can relate to it so much and it brought me to tears."
All Randy Jackson could say was, "Really?" telling Mike he was going to put Maxwell on notice that he should watch his back. "For everybody that doesn't know, it was dope, it was unbelievable," he said. "I wanna call Maxwell and tell him, 'Yo, Big Mike is knockin' on the door, dog, be ready!' But the last note? ... I was like, what?"
Ellen DeGeneres said it was so good it felt like the show had just begun and Lynche was suddenly the one to beat. "This was so needed tonight," Simon Cowell said of the breath of fresh air on an otherwise-boring show. "You come out with an incredibly difficult song to sing and you 100 percent nailed it. Not just the best performance of the night, it's the best performance we've had of all these live shows so far."
What did you think of Big Mike's performance? Were you just as moved as Kara was? Let us know!
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
Related Photos'American Idol' Gets A Boost From Tim Urban, Michael Lynche
Aaron Kelly and Andrew Garcia, however, get some tough words from the judges.
By Gil Kaufman
Tim Urban
Photo: Fox
The top eight men took the stage on "American Idol" on Wednesday (March 10), a night when the front-runners staked a claim for their spots in the top 12, and the weaker members of the herd punched their tickets home. When the dust settled, Michael Lynche emerged emerged as the new one to beat with a performance so strong, it brought judge Kara DioGuardi to tears, and seeming also-ran Tim Urban possibly saved himself with his strongest performance to date.
Lee Dewyze made it clear that he intends to hang around, coming out strong with a Dave Matthews-like acoustic ramble through Owl City's "Fireflies." It wasn't always on key, but he made up for it with his infectious charm and barroom sandpaper drawl.
Randy Jackson thought it was too soft a song for Lee's voice, and a bit pitchy, but he liked how he made it his own, and Kara appreciated the confident vibe he brought to the tune. "There's nothing to rave about after that," said Simon Cowell, who didn't feel his favorite male semifinalist had "a moment" but still displayed solid progress.
As his star has steadily risen on the show, Alex Lambert nailed his song choice with Ray LaMontagne's weary ballad "Trouble," a tune that perfectly fit his dry-throated voice and sad-eyed, innocent demeanor.
"The only thing standing in the way of you winning is you right now," Kara said, praising his unique voice but counseling him to let it rip. Ellen busted out the ripening banana metaphor one more time and said Lambert is getting better and better every week, even as he maintains his innocence. Continuing with the inappropriate advice, Simon said Lambert needs to loosen up, perhaps by imagining Jackson in a bikini.
With two weeks of bad news behind him, Tim Urban went for it by tackling Leonard Cohen's iconic — and hard-to-sing — "Hallelujah." Strumming an acoustic guitar, Urban didn't try to reinvent the wheel but capably hung in there for his strongest effort to date.
Ellen, feeling bad about slagging Urban every week, ran up onstage and hugged him as a kind of apology, and Simon patted himself on the back for giving Urban back his confidence, calling it Tim's best performance to date. "You walked in some pretty big shoes, and I think you did a pretty good job, Tim," Randy said, as Kara predicted he might have sung his way back from the brink with his honest, emotional take on the song.
Needing to find his groove again, Andrew Garcia went back to the well for a cover of Christina Aguilera's breakthrough hit, "Genie in a Bottle." The Santana-like flamenco/soul take felt like another high point, with Garcia making the song his own.
Kara, though, sensed he was fighting with the melody and straining too hard to recapture his "Straight Up" glory, saying, "It just wasn't great." It was a good idea, but too pitchy and not dynamic enough for Randy, though Ellen loved the song choice and wished the genie had come out of the bottle earlier. "It was a little bit desperate," Simon said.
Casey James went with Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me," a safe, straightforward acoustic country ballad that highlighted his soulful tone. That's exactly what Randy thought, encouraging Casey to go edgier and more rock. For Simon, it was James' second-best effort, one that made him seem sincere and sounded great, even if it was a bit forgettable. His former number-one fan, Kara said she was missing the spark, but was glad he wasn't trying to be a phony rock star anymore.
A singer seemingly on the bubble, Aaron Kelly, also chose a country tune — Lonestar's "I'm Already There" — which started out pitchy and tentative and didn't get much better as he rose from his stool and wiggled awkwardly back and forth, alternating between pure and off-key notes.
The singing wasn't great for Ellen, but she thought Aaron carried himself like a much older, more experienced singer than he is. "I love you, you come out onstage every week and you give it your all," said Kara, who then pointed out that the song is about a man calling home to talk to his kids, which just doesn't make any sense coming from a 16-year-old. Simon, however, totally disagreed, saying it was the right type of song for him and he had the right emotion, even if it wasn't a great vocal.
Todrick Hall's philosophy? If you might go home, go big. His unexpected take on Queen's "Somebody to Love" turned out to be a bold choice for the dancer, who turned the tune into a sanctified gospel showpiece.
"Todrick is back!" Randy announced, calling it one of the best male vocals he's heard in weeks. Cowell took it down a notch, dubbing the performance more fit for Broadway than an "Idol" recording artist while giving Hall props for performing and not just sitting on a stool and strumming a guitar.
Then Big Mike Lynche brought down the house. He also switched it up, singing British icon Kate Bush's classic ballad "This Woman's Work," evoking Maxwell with his silky, between-the-sheets R&B version.
The praise was unanimous. Simon said it was the best performance of all the live shows so far, Ellen declared the personal trainer the new one to beat, and DioGuardi literally burst into tears at the emotion the new dad put into the tune. All a dumbfounded Randy could say was "Really?"
Four more singers go home Thursday night as this year's top 12 is revealed.
What did you think of the men's performances? Who killed it? Who blew it? Who is definitely making it to the top 12? Let us know by leaving your comments below.
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
Related PhotosCorey Feldman Tells Larry King About Corey Haim's Final Days
Feldman also reveals the pair's plans to make two 'License to Drive' sequels on 'Larry King Live.'
By Josh Wigler
Corey Feldman on "Larry King Live" Wednesday
Photo: CNN
Actor Corey Feldman, 38, appeared Wednesday night (March 10) on CNN's "Larry King Live" to discuss the death of his best friend and colleague Corey Haim, 38. Feldman, who co-starred with Haim in movies such as "The Lost Boys," "License to Drive" and "Dream a Little Dream," said he was "in shock" over the news of Haim's passing and that he had seen the late actor as recently as "three or four days ago."
"He was fine," Feldman said when asked about Haim's appearance at the time of their last meeting. "He was actually giving me some advice about something I was very upset about. He was being very positive."
According to Feldman, reports that Haim died of a drug overdose are premature, citing other possible factors including kidney and heart failure, an inadvertent lethal mixture of prescribed drugs, or simply his body shutting down after years of drug abuse.
"Until the coroner's report comes out and until we get specific evidence and until we know exactly what the toxicology report says, nobody knows [how Haim died], and nobody is going to know," Feldman said. "We are aware of the fact that Corey Haim has a long and detailed drug history and battled addiction for many, many years. I know it better than anybody, because I've been the guy stuffing charcoal down his throat when he was [overdosing]. I've been the guy trying to make him stand up or say a complete sentence. I've been through it with him many, many times, and it's happened very badly and very intensely through the years."
While Feldman said he appreciated the outpouring of condolences from Haim's many mourning fans, he was disappointed that the late actor's support didn't reveal itself sooner.
"At the end of the day, where were all of these people the last 10 or 15 years of Corey's life?" Feldman asked. "Where were all of these people to reach a hand out to him and say, 'You're a legend. You're an amazingly talented and wonderful person.' "
Feldman said mean-spirited remarks from tabloid magazines and Web sites such as TMZ were quite troubling not just for Haim, but also for himself. In light of Haim's death, Feldman suggested that society needs "to grow up and think about every time we laugh at somebody in the tabloids, every time we poke a finger at somebody and say, 'They're a joke' or 'They're fat' or 'They're a drug addict' or 'They're washed up' or 'They're a loser,' we need to look at ourselves and say, 'Who am I?' "
Haim had filmed several movies prior to his death, Feldman said, including a celebrated role in "American Sunset." Feldman also revealed that before Haim's death, the longtime collaborators "were negotiating a deal to do [their] first movie together in nine years." Haim was apparently in the process of pitching a sequel to "License to Drive" called "License to Fly," which would have been followed up with a third installment called "License to Dive."
There are currently no funeral plans for the late actor, Feldman said, though he hopes to arrange a memorial service where members of Hollywood would pay their respects to the actor, citing "Lucas" and other films as reasons to fondly remember Haim's contributions to the industry.
"Hopefully, he's going to be remembered as a beautiful, funny, enigmatic character who brought nothing but life and light and entertainment and art to all of our lives," Feldman said.
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Lupe Fiasco Used 'Karate Magic' To Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
'Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro' documentary airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on MTV.
By James Montgomery
Lupe Fiasco
Photo: MTV News
NEW YORK — To make it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, climbers use high-altitude breathing techniques, a whole lot of rope and some seriously insulated parkas. But not Lupe Fiasco. When he climbed the peak, he did it with some lessons learned from none other than Daniel-san.
"I guess it was one of them 'Karate Kid' moments, you know? I did martial arts for, like, 20 years. My father was a Grand Master for, like, 40 years before he passed. It's just one of those lessons that we were taught," he laughed at the New York premiere of "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro." "We used to run in the snow barefoot, jump over cars, hang out of trees and do all types of crazy stuff, and that was just part of the training, to understand that it's you versus yourself. The terrain is always going to exist, it's always going to be there, and it's whether you are capable enough to go through it. ... Just some little mysticism right there, a little bit of that karate magic to keep the mind going."
And Fiasco — who, along with Kenna, Santigold, Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch and a team of scientists, United Nations ambassadors and experienced mountain guides, took on Kilimanjaro to raise awareness about the global clean-water crisis — most certainly made it to the peak, braving freezing temperatures, dizzying heights and crippling altitude sickness. Of course, while all of those things are what made the trip difficult for him, the toughest hurdle to overcome was mental.
"It probably is the most difficult thing I've ever done. It wasn't the altitude sickness; it was more so the battle of myself," he explained. "Battling, getting the variables right, working the math out about how much water you're going to drink, how hard you're going to push yourself, how mad you're going to get, how much you're going to think about going home."
Oh, and there was also the lack of certain, uh, creature comforts too.
"It was very, very wild when it came to the restroom situation," he laughed. "There was lot of rationing going on up there."
And while making it to the highest peak in Africa was certainly an accomplishment, Fiasco said he's most proud of something else both the film and the team managed to accomplish: They made thousands of people aware of the shortage of clean water available to people in the most impoverished nations on earth. And they did it together.
"There's strength in numbers. It's about mass. You can have one person, and he looks cool holding up a sign, but it's much better when you have 500 people holding up the same sign," he said. "There was actually, like, 300 people involved in this climb, and that's what it took to get everyone to the top. And that's what it's going to take to change this global water situation."
Don't miss "Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro," airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.
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