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Siobhan Magnus sings better when not on American Idol

2010 May 1
tags: ,
by TopIdol

Last night, this week’s ousted American Idol contestant, Siobhan Magnus, hung out with old buddy Alex Lambert (Why oh why did he not make the Top 12? The show might be marginally interesting this year.) and broke bread with several never-will-bes at the If I Can Dream house. After dinner, she took to the piano to sing Beyonce’s Halo.

Halo is kind of a lame song choice, especially for such an “edgy” and “original” (ZOMG EDWARD GOREY TATTOO) young woman, but Siobhan sounds great. When she pulls back and reigns it in, there are several hints of brilliance in her voice. Perhaps she should take Crystal Bowersox’s advice — Bigger isn’t always better. And when Siobhan steps up to the mic, less really is always more. Just because one can hit those insane octaves doesn’t mean they should do it whenever possible, you know?

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from → American Idol

  • Tw!sted_S!ster

    Everyone from this season sounds better when they get voted off.

  • dfeeel2

    WAHHH, Siobhan-bhan how i miss you.

    I’m loving her post-idolness already.
    She tells a great story at dinner about a “pumpkin king,” shes just the best.

    CANT wait until her idolatry interview.
    Seeing her and Slezak together will be something

  • Kate123

    Okay…someone needs to explain this ‘If I Can Dream’ house thing to me because I don’t really get it…is it like Big Brother but with singers??

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      And without a point.

    • Mithra

      I can see the types who watch Big Brother getting into it. It’s not interesting as experimental art as it’s been done before, all aspects of the concepts behind it. The Idol angle now with Alex living there and cast offs and former contestants showing up is attracting an Idol audience. I can’t see anyone but a few weirdos wanting to watch the other nobodies there, it doesn’t even look like bad trainwreck stuff. I just don’t get why people would sit around and watch these shitty live feeds all the time. Unless they have a guest, it’s got to be even more boring than the Big Brother live feeds. People do though, and if you want to check into that, here’s a forum devoted to it:

      http://forums.jokersupdates.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

      They do edit it down to a weekly show. Better footage and sound. These feeds are poor quality but kind of briefly interesting in a fly on the wall sort of way. This is an edited segment of Tim visiting. He and Alex jam together.

  • Katie112

    With this season, I can bet that if Siobhan was a guy, with nothing changed in her vocal tendencies, just the body of a guy, she would’ve won. But since she’s female, the frauen cannot fantasize about touching her inappropriately.

    • Sherena

      Well, Adam didn’t win. And he had some of her vocal tendencies, but executed better. So it’s possible that Siobhan wouldn’t have won as a guy. I’m willing to bet she would’ve gone farther, though, especially against this year’s crop.

      • suew

        Well, its possible that Adam might have won if he was a straight man. Just sayin’.

        • Katie112

          … Or if his fans would’ve focused on voting instead of spamming every message board on earth and trending him on Twitter.

          • Katie112

            And please, enough about him. Don’t want this topic derailed.

        • Sherena

          Very probably.

    • Kate123

      I think it depends…if she looked like Chris Sligh…probably not

      • Sherena

        LOL probably not. I think we can count on the Idol audience to be no more sexist than they are weightist. I think the male equivalent of Siobhan would be pretty decent looking though :)

        • Katie112

          Well, I think she would’ve won, because she’d be the best male singer of the bunch. The fact that so many weak guys have made it this far has me convinced that Crystal won’t be in
          the finale much less win, because even though she’s the best one left, we have to remember who’s voting…

    • Trish

      Unfortunately (and I liked her early on, so I say this as a fan), she attracted fans as obnoxious as the ones Adam did. Just. So. Frakkin. Annoying.

      • Trish

        Heh. I guess that make me annoying! She attracted *some* fans as annoying as Adam’s. I think you get my drift. (At least I hope you do!)

  • wino

    why oh why did she not sing this song, like THIS during Idol Gives back week? Halo could be classified as an “inspirational” song and it would have showcased a softer/restrained part of her vocals that could have appealed to most viewers. i still think big mike shouldve went home weeks ago, i would rather have screechy for one more week than his puffy ass.

    • Trish

      Maybe they couldn’t/wouldn’t get “Halo” cleared? The contestants are constantly being trashed for their “lousy song choices,” but I’m convinced Ken Warwick is too fucking cheap to spend money on most of them. (Unless their names end in “Lambert” . . . and start with “Adam.”)

  • Sherena

    I agree with you, TopIdol. She definitely has some flashes of brilliance there. Her voice has a lot of emotive potential. I don’t like her big notes much, although I do like her high notes a lot when they’re sung more softly. This video reminds me of why I liked Siobhan so much in the beginning.

    • Trish

      She has a beautiful head voice, when she centers it and sings through her facial mask. (That’s a singing term, not a theatrical one!)

      I hated her damn screeching though. I can hit out-of-this-world, ear-splitting notes, too, but they sound like shit. Unless they’re coming from a well-trained operatic soprano, nobody wants to hear that crap. Even then, most people hate it. (Unless they’re Glamberts or a “Siobhanbies.”)

      Her chest voice is more problematic for my tastes. It often sounded like she was swallowing air.

      I liked her behind the piano, though. I think she sounds more interested in a theatrical career than one as a “packaged” recording artist. I think she definitely has potential.

  • On The Edge

    TI, so sorry to go wildly off-topic, but did you see THIS?

    http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/05/01/the-room-ziegfeld-on-the-scene/

  • et

    *Sniff* Alex Lambert. This season could have been so much better. Maybe. :)

  • Kate123

    Why didn’t she sing and play the piano for one of her AI performances? People usually like seeing the contestants with instruments and it probably would have made her restrain herself

    • Mithra

      Maybe she figured she still had time? They have a good idea of what’s coming up weeks ahead. She really was a shock elimination.

      I like at the end Alex joins in a bit. Do not like the two douchey housemates behaviour during it. They had to know that performances by Idol contestants end up on youtube, right?

      • summersnow

        Impressive performance. Gal has R&B in her. Agreed she should have flash out the piano when she’s on the show. I just can’t stand the other two guys. So obvious that they are being forced by the staff to come into the room and they just can’t at least respect the performer. They deserve to end up as wannabes!

        • Mithra

          They’re pretty stupid and delusional. I’m sure the audience for that show skyrocketed with Idol involvement. Way to piss off the fans of people who were on a show with 20 million plus ratings.

          I just read the Shirley Halperin interview with Siobhan and it really sucks that she’s not there any more. Besides the entertainment value, she was going to do the Sid Vicious version of My Way this week :( That was one of the first dozen or so albums I bought as a tween. It was an import EP at a funky little indie mom and pop record store that had everything. Also – Ken Warwick shitcanned the Teen Idol theme which would mhave been fun, because too many people picked the same artists. So what? She was going to do To Sir With Love.

          • Sherena

            I would’ve loved to see Siobhan do the Sid Vicious version of My Way! Darn.

          • Trish

            She wouldn’t have gotten to do the Sid Vicious version anyway. HC Jr. is doing all the arrangements this week.

          • Mithra

            I know he’s doing the arrangements, which should be interesting. I don’t know though, I think he’s a quirky kinda guy and he probably would have gone for it?