Season 5: Encores
POP
REVIEWED BY CHUCK ARNOLD
Despite the subtitle of this compilation showcasing the American Idol finalists, there are few performances from this year's Top 12 that are really worthy of encores. Even winner Taylor Hicks, doing "Takin' It to the Streets," fails to blow you away. A couple of tips for Idol wannabes? Stay away from Stevie: The worst moments on this disc come when two of the weakest singers, Bucky Covington and Lisa Tucker, warble "Superstition" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)," respectively. And you better think twice about touching Aretha: Runner-up Katharine McPhee may possess major pipes, but girlfriend's got no soul, and she makes a melismatic mess out of "Think." Faring better are the prematurely eliminated Mandisa (on "I'm Every Woman"), Paris Bennett (on "Midnight Train to Georgia") and Chris Daughtry, who on his rocking version of "Wanted Dead or Alive" shows why he should have stopped the Soul Patrol.
[STARS 2]
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Wanted Dead or Alive"
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