Posted October 17, 200618 yr Baby Can I Hold You Make It Easy On Yourself Pretty Flamingo Sandy Something Inside So Strong Whole Again I must admit I do find our final line up quite a surprise but when I think about them, IMO they all deserve to be there. Pretty Flamingo, Sandy and Whole Again, Darius made his own. Something Inside So Strong, he sang with so much emotion and passion not only because it was his Dad's favourite but also the words were so appropriate for that moment in his own life too. Baby Can I Hold You was very good on first hearing but every time he's sung it since, it's got even more powerful. I just love his deep baritone on Make It Easy On Yourself.
October 17, 200618 yr Baby Can I Hold You 6 (top) Whole Again 5 Something Inside So Strong 4 Pretty Flamingo 3 Sandy 2 Make It Easy On Yourself 1 I found this one surprisingly easy. If some of the other tracks had got through, it wouldn't have been quite so easy. I chose 'baby Can I Hold You' as my favorite as, every time I hear him sing it, it's better. His voice is deeper, more true and more confident. I quite liked it on Pop Idol but, it's a different song now. I suppose I love 'Whole Again' as no one wanted him to sing a 'Girl's ' song but, he did and showed just how good his judgement was. He stood his ground and made that totally his own. There's not much between 'Whole Again' and 'Something In Side So Strong' for me. If it was the first version I heard Darius sing, then it'd be very hard to call. The version he was coached to perform was a pale image of his own version. I've never heard him perform that since. Mind you, 'Pretty Flamingo' isn't far behind either. I love the live accoustic perfrmances D does and this, again, is pure D,no imitation of anyone else.
October 17, 200618 yr Baby can I hold you 6 points Make it wasy on yourself 5 points Something inside so strong 4 points whole again 3 points pretty flamingo 2 points Sandy 1 point Baby can I hold you has always been one of my favourites. Make it easy I love for to me it shows the full power of his voice The next two were hard to chose between I have put pretty flamingo before Sandy because although I liked sandy to me it didnt show off his voicealthough it was a different interpretation of it.
October 17, 200618 yr Well I can't make my mind up....I keep changing :cry: Make it wasy on yourself 6 points whole again 5 points Sandy 4 points pretty flamingo 3 points Baby can I hold you 2 points Something inside so strong 1 point I have always loved Make it easy on yourself...so I have to put it first I thought it was great when he sang ' Something inside so strong'....I felt like shouting 'Show them Darius', but I never felt it was his best The rest I just love and could be in any position. I think Sandy was great fun, full of life and enjoyed watching him perform it...love the laugh at the end.
October 20, 200618 yr Author I love Darius's laugh. It's quite infectious. What I like best is when something makes him laugh onstage mid-song and he sings completely new lyrics until he catches up. I love that he goes on stage and actually reacts to the audience rather than goes through pre-planned and choreographed routines like so many others eg I found GA a total letdown in comparison when they appeared together. I just don't understand all those people who prattle on and say Darius takes himself too seriously. That's the last thing he does.
October 22, 200618 yr I've torn myself away from trying to do my Darius Top 10 again and listened to these several times over today - I keep changing my mind about the order of the last 3 - but this will have to do Pretty Flamingo 6 Baby Can I hold You 5 Sandy 4 Something Inside So Strong 3 Whole Again 2 Make it Easy 1 I chose Pretty Flamingo first, because it feels like a very natural Darius vocal throughout to me. I really like how Darius sings it, especially when he really gets into "Oh Flamingo Flamingo Girl, won't you walk into my world, Sha la li-ah la, she's so fine, sha la la la la la la la" - Groovey :dance: ~ get a real sense of dancing around the Temple with flowers in hair just listening to the recording of it, wish I had been there, or maybe not :P :lol: Baby Can I hold you - Beautiful song, always beautifully sung, whichever version ~ just want to hug him when he sings this -awe :wub: Sandy - I don't actually like this song in its natural incarnation, so the fact that Darius 'rocked it up' was a great improvement over the original for me, though it's still a very corny song, especially the spoken part lol! but I just love the energy and it sounds natural and I think he sings it really well. Something Inside So Strong - suffers slightly from an off note on "side" at the end, 'the occasion' nerves are evident I think, as I'm pretty sure it didn't happen when he performed it to the press the previous day, I remember that particular performance being my favourite one of this song, as it was made for him to sing to them ~ so fitting :( so, I felt that performance somehow had more feeling/poignancy about it. This one seems weaker, but it also suffers compared to the rest here, as it's so short and doesn't have any of the musical production and/or arrangement and backing vocals that all the other songs have benefit from, so it's getting extra brownie points as compensation for that I think ;) - I'd actually like to hear Darius sing this with more accompanyment/production and with the added benefit of the restored confidence that came back to him a bit later in the competition and then I think I'd know for sure where it belongs on my list. Make it Easy on Yourself - I really like this song for it's own sake. Plus, as I've said before, I have the whole emotional baggage attachment, of it so obviously being Darius's final PopIdol performance ... "if this is goodbye" :cry: - so, in that sense I love it. When I focus purely on Darius's vocals and whether I think this song actually suits Darius to sing, I feel that it's sometimes pitched too low for Darius to sing comfortably, he seems to struggle to enunciate a couple of words properly on some of the lowest notes and seems like he's having to project to get his voice down there to me, so at times it just doesn't feel natural. I like it more especially towards the end of the song, as the pitch raises a bit, then it feels more comfortable to me. I really love how he sings the part from "If this is goodbye" onwards :wub: - but overall, for me, there just isn't the scope in this song for Darius's full vocal range to have it's freedom to roam :) Whole Again - Not exciting, a nice tender arrangement though and nicely sung :) - love the hmmmmm at the end :D .... potentially better than Make it Easy for Darius to sing I think, but I love the Make it Easy music ... and overall I think I just like that actual song better - it has more power and more about it, but I could easily swap these two around from day to day as the mood takes me. Edited October 22, 200618 yr by Secret_Song
October 24, 200618 yr Author As usual, I'm at the tail end still struggling. I'll take a leaf out of your book Secret Song and dedicate myself to listening to them over andover today until I can decide.
October 24, 200618 yr Baby Can I Hold You 6 Make It Easy On Yourself 2 Pretty Flamingo 5 Sandy 4 Something Inside So Strong 1 Whole Again 3 am i too late..god I am useless at these games..LOL
October 24, 200618 yr Author No, you'renot late at all, pip. I'll close this rate at midnight on Saturday 28th October .
October 30, 200618 yr Just thought, when did More Than Words bite the dust Baytree? Edited October 30, 200618 yr by Secret_Song
November 7, 200618 yr No, you'renot late at all, pip. I'll close this rate at midnight on Saturday 28th October . Anyone heard from Baytree? :unsure:
November 8, 200618 yr No nothing been heard from Baytree for a while, bit worrying, wonder whats happened.
November 10, 200618 yr Author Sorry, I should have come on and let you all know I was going away but it really was such a whirlwind. When I get an idea into my head it can block all rational thought. My mumradar told me my son needed me, so that was all I was focused on. Thank goodness for credit cards.
November 11, 200618 yr Isjn't it funny how the radar works? It must be part of the giving birth process. Is he OK?
November 11, 200618 yr Author I've replied to your message on Sonnet's site, megham. They had a series of unexpected scary health blows but I now feel content and confident they'll have the strength to get through any other hiccups together. I wouldn't have come back here otherwise.
November 12, 200618 yr Author Results of this long drawn out Cover Versions' rate will at last be up tomorrow. Long drawn out because I tended to be away at crucial times. My apologies for that.
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