Andrew Lloyd-Webber Does Idol

Andrew Lloyd Webber was the guest on American Idol this week. It was a lot of fun to see what songs the contestants chose and even more fun to hear what Lloyd Webber had to say about them.

I thought that Lloyd-Webber was a "Sir," as in Sir Andrew, so was confused when they kept calling him "Lord Lloyd-Webber." He was elevated to Baron in 1997. Unfortunately, Lord fits a bit awkwardly with Lloyd-Webber. Other Wikipedia random fact: he owns most of Watership Down (the place, not the book.)

I was really surprised by Jason's choice to sing Memory (and agreed with the panel and Lloyd-Webber). It really bothered me that he didn't do any homework before meeting Lloyd-Webber and selecting the song. It killed me when Jason said: "I didn't know a cat sang the song!" For Pete's sake, the song is from the musical Cats!!

Similarly, Brooke didn't find out anything about "You Must Love Me" from Evita. Argh. Lloyd-Webber said "I knew she didn't have a clue what the song was about." Lloyd-Webber explained the story to her when they met but I don't think the editors left out a key part of his explanation. He explained that Evita was dying and she wanted to really know if her husband loved her. I think the key there was that the marriage was a political convenience and that Evita hadn't necessarily cared about love until she knew about her impending death. My mom said Brooke would have fared better with "Another Suitcase In Another Hall"

I actually thought David Archuleta's version of "Think of Me" was pretty neat and not the disaster I anticipated. Once again, I was struck by how important it is to know yourself and your capabilities. The fact that Carly chose "All I Ask of You" as her first choice was worrisome. (The group performance of the song the next day had me frantically searching for the original recording as a palate cleanser. It was horrible) Glad she went with her second choice "Jesus Christ Superstar." It was a tough song to sing out of context though. I wonder how she would have sounded singing "Buenos Aires."

I found that I could hum most of Lloyd-Webber oeuvre as I read the titles on Wikipedia. Evita and Phantom are the most vivid in my head. Weirdly, with Sunset Boulevard I could only conjure the title song. Is that a comment on the strength of the music or my sleep-deprived state?

My mom and I both found ourselves thinking of songs from Les Miserables: "On My Own," "Stars," "I Dreamed A Dream" and "Bring Him Home." Somehow they seem to stand alone a lot better than the Lloyd-Webber songs. I think his stuff is so woven into the story that it's hard to hear them alone.

Over all, a ton of fun this week on Idol. I wonder how a Rodgers and Hammerstein week would fare...