American Idol Top 5 - Elliott Yamin

(c) Fox





#1. Elliott Yamin

Musical Style
Elliott has this wonderful jazzy soulful voice, the closest thing I can compare him to is as a male-Nora Jones.

Image
Elliott has got this goofy, friendly guy image going for him. I don't think Simon Cowell and Co. think they'll be able to market him, but I think he can do that on his voice alone.

The Good
With the exception of perhaps Paris, Elliott is the only singer left who has not given a single bad performance vocally. He has his very own unique singing style and if he were to release a record today I'd go out and buy it. His initial nervousness on the show is now gone and he has evolved into an excellent performer. For me Elliott comes in at #1 because out of all the singers remaining he does not remind me of anyone else, he has a very distinct sound that is very much his own. I do want to buy his album, and I haven't felt this way about an Idol contestant since the days of Fantasia. Chris is a good singer, but he will always be Ed Kowalczyk Version 2.0 to me. Kat is fantastic, but when she sings a big Whitney song, it makes me wish that Whitney will get sober and release a new album. I will probably buy a Paris album, in ten years time! The less said about Taylor the better.

The Bad
As much as I love Elliott, his song choices can be really really dull at times, and no matter how well he sings them they will not excite anyone!

The Ugly
Ummm, I don't know, his ever-changing facial hair irritates me ? His nervousness gets to me too, Elliott when you're nervous on stage, I am nervous for you on the couch at home!

Favorite Performance
Without a shadow of a doubt, his strong soulful take on Donny Hathaway's 'A Song For You' in week 11 turned him into a real contender.