<p>Since the board is slowing down a little bit, I thought I would start a new thread to spark some conversation, hope that’s ok! 
The other night on Idol, the contestants had to pick a song that inspired them. Jordin Sparks, the youngest contestant, chose You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel. She is my favorite but I thought she did Ok with the song. However; the judges were blown away with her performance. Simon even said (papraphrasing here) That song is 40 something years old and you could release that today and have a hit! I wondered how many people in the average American household knew that song was from a Musical or anything about the song for that matter! So, if you saw her performance, do you think it could be a hit in todays pop market?</p>
<p>We have not been regularly watching Idol this season because…well…we won’t get into that now. BUT we did decide to put it on this week !! We stopped whatever we were doing to listen to Jordin as soon as we heard what she was singing. We did hold our breath for her response from Simon. He seems to always have a snip about “broadway”…so I did not know what to expect. The song is a classic, and I think it could easily be a hit. However, that is coming from a family of musicians who have everything from Handel to Broadway on their Ipods!!! </p>
<p><em>Concidering the time of year…“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a wonderful song for graduation ceremonies</em></p>
<p>I would venture to say that most if not upwards of 90% of folks have no idea it is from Carousel and would say …“oh the Jerry Lewis Telethon song!” (if you are of the boomer vintage who grew up on that Labor Day TV must see!).</p>
<p>We just did Carousel last year so I did know…and while I thought Jordin did a good job, it was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too low for her voice IMHO!!</p>
<p>I like being better than 90% :)</p>
<p>MikksMom</p>
<p>Mikksmom, so funny you said that about Jerry Lewis, because we were discussing Jordin’s performance in my office the morning after and a younger colleague said “Isn’t that the song that Jerry Lewis always sang on his telethon?” :)</p>
<p>Mikksmom, I have to agree with you about the song being very wrong for her voice. Jordin has been one of my favorites from the beginning. She has a beautiful, clear, powerful, and well-controlled instrument, and I have been amazed, just as the judges have, week after week at her abilities. However, I must say that this week was the first week where I was not very impressed with her performance. I felt that she struggled with several parts of the song and her usual gorgeous sound just didn’t happen. I was surprised that the praise from the judges was so abundant but I know, from someone who has been in the audience several times there, that it is often very difficult for them to hear the songs as well as the at-home audience.</p>
<p>As for the song, I doubt that 99.9% of the people watching knew that the song was from Carousel. Most wouldn’t even know what Carousel was even if they were told! 
That song is one of those songs that have crossed over into popular music culture, and probably would stand a chance of being a ‘hit’ again if sung by the right person.</p>
<p>i would LOVE if they did a broadway week.</p>
<p>That song was my mother’s graduation song–class of 1954! I think it could probably be a hit today.</p>
<p>Jordin is my favorite. I like the way she seems to “connect” with her song, often wiping away a tear at the end. I’ve also wondered if the judges were hearing the same thing I was. Last week, they all praised Chris and I thought he was mediocre at best.</p>