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Date Posted: 11:35:28 04/17/06 Mon
Author: Lynn
Subject: Queen's Brian May Addresses 'Idol Fallout' from Yahoo Music


04/13/2006 2:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Lyndsey Parker

After Queen appeared on this past Tuesday's episode of American Idol to coach the remaining eight contestants--who all sang Queen songs this week, with varying degrees of success--many assumed the band would perform on Wednesday's results show, as this season's previous coaches (Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers) have done. So when Queen was a no-show last night (in their place, viewers got a Queen medley performed by the finalists), some fans jumped to the conclusion that the band had bailed because they were displeased with how their songs were performed (some would say mangled) by the contestants.

This speculation can likely be traced back to the on-air bickering between Queen guitarist Brian May and finalist Ace Young, regarding Young's suggestion to turn "We Will Rock You" into an R&B number. (Said May, flat out, "I can't do that to my song.") But now May himself has addressed the Idol rumors in the "Brian's Soapbox" section of his official website, BrianMay.com.

"Well, no - there was never a plan for us to perform on the AI show," May writes. "We only wanted to do the coaching thing, (done at our sound-check in Anaheim), to give as much as we could to the participants ... ... not go into the TV studio and 'advertise' ourselves ... I'm happy about that decision."

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[> rest of article (the Ace controversy) ----->> -- ., 11:36:40 04/17/06 Mon [1]

May also discusses the Ace Young controversy, or as he calls it, "the fallout from American Idol," in a separate blog entry:

"Some of you have written in accusing me of undermining ACE with his interpretation of WWRY. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm afraid this is an illustration of exactly what I have been quoted as saying about the programme ..... that the critical process would be better off done in private, like we do in auditioning for our musical ...

"We had an interaction with ACE, a conversation, in which we gave him the best advice we possibly could, based on studying the demo's which we already had in our iTunes - which I'd personally given a lot of time to study. This conversation, in my book, ought to have been private, but that is not the style of the show, sadly. But the even more unfortunate thing is that you are then in the hands of the video editors, who seem to seize with glee anything that looks negative. It was edited in such a way that it looked as if I was purely negative - they very naughtily inserted a bit that I said about "not on my own song" so it appeared that I said it AFTER we had played together, which was not the way it happened ...making me look like I was against the whole thing. But this was not the case. Having said that I wouldn't be able to play the arrangement exactly like his demo, and that I didn't think it would work without the stomps and claps which are foundation of the song, we then discussed how we could improve his ideas and with a mixture of a quick conference and spontaneous creation we came up with a kind of mixture of his thoughts and ours - WHICH WAS THE BASIS FOR THE ARRANGEMENT THAT YOU SAW THE HOUSE BAND PLAY ON THE NIGHT ! It was actually pretty damn good, I thought, for a quick attempt ... and he sang it very well live. If you talk to ACE he will confirm that we parted on the very best terms, and he thanked me for the input. I made it very clear that I respected him for taking chances and trying to make the song his own. The version you saw on TV used a straight sample beat with stomps and claps which set up the song in the first verse in the classic way, and then a working in of an underpinning riff (close to what I had done in our rehearsal period together, in response to Ace's idea) and then back to a straighter 3rd verse, but ending in his delayed phrase end stop, again, just as we did it together .... and I thought it was damn good.

"Just in case any of this isn't clear .... the version of WWRY that ACE performed on AI last night was a DIRECT RESULT of his own ingenuity and the advice we gave him, with our full encouragement and blessing. And he definitely rocked. And we wish him much luck in the contest."

Ace Young narrowly escaped elimination last night, landing in the bottom three with Bucky Covington and Elliott Yamin. But ultimately it was Bucky who had to go, allowing Ace to continue on to next week, when the finalists will work with special guest Rod Stewart. Meanwhile, Queen with Paul Rodgers perform tonight at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada.


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[> [> That's pretty good insight! That's how TV is though...they manipulate footage so that comments and things appear as something they aren't. That was very interesting. Thanks for posting it, Lynn! -- Brooke, 20:47:31 04/17/06 Mon [1]


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[> [> [> Glad you liked it, Brooke. I thought it was pretty interesting--although not really much of a surprise the way the video editors cut it up to make it seem more dramatic. Gosh, now it's really getting tough on AI. Chris might be able to pull it off, but Paris and Katharine are really strong. I think they will be the final three--if that happens, it could be any one of them as winner in my opinion. I don't think Ace can hold on much longer, but he is a cutie. Does anyone here watch Trading Spaces? I think Ace looks like Carter, the carpenter. -- Lynn, 21:08:20 04/17/06 Mon [1]


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[> [> [> [> My favorite is definitely Chris. 110% without a doubt. I just watched his performance tonight and it was great!! When I heard the theme was Rod's songs, I was so excited. Then when they said it was his Storybook songs, I was a little disappointed. I love Rod (if you've never seen him perform LIVE, well his ROCK stuff, you should definitely do it!). But "What a Wonderful World" is one of my favorite songs, so I was thrilled when he sang it! I loved it! -- Brooke, 20:21:47 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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[> [> [> [> [> Oops, that should be "Song Book", not "Storybook". :) -- Brooke, 20:24:42 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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[> [> [> [> [> I thought last night's performances were much improved over the last couple of weeks; in fact, they were great!! It will be sad to see any of them go. Kellie's performance may have been the weakest, but she was so cute about acknowledging that it wasn't her best moment. Yeah, I was worried when Chris said he was going to sing "What a Wonderful World," but he really pulled it off! -- Jules, 16:58:12 04/19/06 Wed [1]


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[> Thanks for posting that. AI sure did a number on the editing. -- Janelle, 01:01:20 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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[> I'm not an Idol watcher but when I heard that some of Queen's songs were going to be sung, I tuned in. What a disappointment. Those people were awful. Such a travesty. -- mandevilla, 07:16:13 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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[> I watch Idol each week, but lately I'm a little disappointed and don't know who to root for. Chris seems aloof, plus I don't always enjoy his alternative rock choices; Taylor is not consistent; Paris is sometimes annoying; Elliott has the voice but lacks the polish; Katharine is lacking poise off-stage, plus she should re-think her wardrobe choices; Ace always looks ill on Wednesdays. Then there is Kellie. If her naivete is truly genuine, then maybe I will pull for her. If not, bring Mandisa back!! -- Jules, 10:40:01 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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[> [> I just re-read my post, and it sounds a little harsh.. Guess I've become Simonized over the last few years. Ohhhhh nooooooooooooo........ -- Jules, 17:53:42 04/18/06 Tue [1]


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