Rock Star: INXS, July 19 – Original Sin

Brooke Burke welcomes us to Week 2 of the ultimate rock competition. We don’t know who will win yet, but life at the Rock Star mansion is getting serious, she says. With that, we get a recap of what happened Monday night. If you haven’t done so already, you can read all about it right here.

Back on stage, Brooke encourages applause for the performers, INXS, and Dave Navarro. With that, it’s time to rock!

Brooke introduces Marty by noting he has previously opened for Nickelback, Newfound Glory, and others. Tonight he is singing “What I Like About You” by the Romantics, and the spotlight is on him. Marty begins his performance by climbing on the drum set and jumping off back onto the stage. He is putting a lot into his stage presence, but I feel that his voice is somewhat lacking – it’s pretty much a constant generic rock growl without any hint of melody.

When Marty is done, Dave tells him he really loves his energy and performance style. Jon Farriss, INXS’s drummer, loves the way Marty used the stage. And Kirk Pengilly, guitar/saxophone player for INXS, says it was simply “awesome.” Sounds like the band and I have differing opinions here.

We move on to Daphna, whose birthday was last week. As a present, Heather gave her the song she wanted to sing, Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Daphna really kicks it into gear with this song, and INXS appears to be getting into it too as they watch. She shows a good voice, definitely able to handle rock music.

Dave begins his first comment with, “You know I’m a fan, right?” That can’t be good, and it looks like Daphna is also waiting for the other shoe to drop. But instead, Dave says she could run her nails over a chalkboard on stage and he would be riveted. She “did a kick-ass job.” Garry Beers, INXS’s bass player, says it was fantastic, “Hubba-hubba.” Er. Okay. INXS’s guitar player, Tim Farriss, agrees. But it would be great to see her extend herself a little more each week. She says she will, just for him.

Ty is up next, with The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.” He begins center-stage standing with the microphone stage, yet commanding all attention. He quickly dispenses with the stand and moves around the stage in a way that really emphasizes his singing. I must admit that I don’t really know that song, but I loved his performance of it. He is a great performer all-around.

Dave says it shows that Ty has a lot of theater experience. I think that was a compliment. Ty is also criticized by Garry because it looked like he planned his whole performance around himself as a solo performance, but he needs to keep in mind that he is trying to become part of a band. Kirk wants to see him do something a bit more diverse in coming weeks, because INXS plays a variety of music.

Following Ty, we have Suzie, who was in the bottom three last week. Tonight she sings The Police’s “Roxanne,” which she begins by strutting sexily onto the stage. As she begins to sing, I’m not impressed with her voice. She is putting some affectation into her voice in what appears to be an attempt to make herself sound like Sting (the Police lead singer – not to be confused with Sting7, RNO writer). I don’t like it, and I think she could be in danger again.

Dave, however, thinks she nailed it. Jon thinks Suzie’s style has improved and she was more sexy. Tim says she had a rough week last week, but she should be proud of herself now. I still think she’s in danger.

Mig is up next with Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” Recall from Monday night that he was having all sorts of problems with the lyrics. Will he make it through? Yes! Well, maybe. I’m pretty sure he messes up some of the lyrics near the end, but I’m not sure anybody will care. Overall, he does an excellent job of both singing and performing, and I have to take back my criticism of him from Monday’s recap. Very nice.

Dave says he’s impressed that he got every syllable in (so maybe he didn’t mess up the lyrics after all? Or Dave just didn’t notice? I dunno). INXS is overall impressed by what they just saw from Mig.

Neal is next, and it’s noted that INXS had told him they wanted to hear some melody. So he will be singing Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69,” and playing guitar as well. And, well, his guitar playing is good, but I’m not so sure about his melodic singing. Actually, I am sure – I’m sure I don’t like it. It sounds like Generic Rock Singer #58, and I note that I described his voice similarly last week. If I heard this on the radio, no way I’d be able to tell you who sang it – and I’d change the channel.

Dave says it was great to see him do something different and play the guitar. Garry wonders if Neal thinks he succeeded in picking a more melodic song, and Neal says he “totally did” and adds, “I rocked it, I thought.” The audience applauds, but Garry doesn’t look so convinced.

Heather has impressed the band up to this point with her diversity. Now she’s going to take on The Rolling Stones with “It’s Only Rock and Roll.” I have to say, the beginning of the song sounds almost… country. She breaks into a couple of growls, but they seem too forced. As she sings about how much she “likes it,” I must admit that I don’t.

What does Dave think about it? Well, I’m not sure. But I know what he thinks about Heather – he talks about her butterfly tattoos and says he wants to curl up in a cocoon with her. Moving on, Tim says she just keeps getting better. Once again, I guess I’m just seeing things differently than the band.

J.D. is next with Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket.” We saw quite a bit of him practicing and planning the arrangement Monday night, and I was looking forward to it. J.D. definitely lives up to my expectations. He is much less manic than he was in either of his first two performances, letting his voice command the attention. Wow.