Melinda at Feinstein's in NYC!
Season 6 Idol, Melinda Doolittle sings “Home” at Feinstein’s in New York City for the True Colors cabaret in September 2009.
If you missed her September performance, mark your calender–Melinda will be performing at Feinstein’s again, November 17th through the 21st. For more information, check out the Feinstein’s website.
A Survivor of ‘Idol’ With Heart
The former “American Idol” contestant Melinda Doolittle, who finished third on Season 6, knows who she is and what she wants. “In my heart of hearts, I want to be Clair Huxtable” (on “The Cosby Show”) she declared on Thursday evening at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, where she is appearing through Saturday. The man of her dreams, she added, would be someone like Bill Cosby’s character, Cliff.
The sweetness and honesty Ms. Doolittle puts into such statements are the same endearing qualities she conveyed on “American Idol,” a contest in which glamour, flowery vocal embellishments and youth (Ms. Doolittle, now 32, was older than most of her competitors) often trump unaffectedness.
Ms. Doolittle’s traditional pop-soul style, which eschews the Whitney-Mariah-Christina syndrome of melismatic preening, wasn’t flashy enough to land her in first place, although many, including this critic, found her to be the best singer in the 2007 sweepstakes. More than anyone, she suggests a next-generation Gladys Knight with shades of Tina Turner. When she sings, you think first of church, family and home cooking.
Accompanied on piano by Raymond Angry, Ms. Doolittle made do with less, filling in the gaps with strong pop-gospel renditions of everything from the Gershwins (“I Got Rhythm,” for which Mr. Angry supplied buoyant stride piano) to the Bee Gees (“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”).
The show’s concept explored what she called “the good, the bad and the ugly” of love. The bad was epitomized by Dave Frishberg’s nastily amusing comic monologue “Peel Me a Grape,” in which an entitled gold digger and possible dominatrix issues a list of demands (“Don’t try to fool me bejewel me/either amuse me or lose me”); she emphasized the comedy.
The song that best defined Ms. Doolittle on “American Idol,” “Home” (from “The Wiz”), brought a standing ovation on Thursday. Ms. Doolittle infused it with faith and heart, building it to a final assertion of self-knowledge and self-reliance and turning a good song into a great one.
