Blake Lewis

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Blake Lewis

Blake Colin Lewis (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer who is currently a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol.

Early life

Lewis was born in Redmond, Washington to Dallas and Dinah Lewis as the only child in the family of Welsh, German and Irish descent.[1][2] He attended Kenmore Junior High and later Inglemoor High School.[3][4] He has been beatboxing since he was seventeen and used to be a member of the a cappella group KickShaw for four years after the graduation from high school in 1999.[5][6] He quit the group in 2002 and since then became a full-time musician going by the stage name "Bshorty".[7] In high school, Lewis participated in many high school state competitions. He also took part in numerous musicals, as well as comedy and rap videos with his friends.[6] Aside from singing and beatboxing, Lewis plays the guitar, piano, drums and has written many songs such as "She Loves The Way" and "Emotional Waterfall".[8][9][10] He auditioned for American Idol in Seattle.

American Idol performances

Audition: Crazy (Seal)

Hollywood Week's group performance: How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees) (performed with Chris Sligh, Rudy Cárdenas and Tom Lowe)

Week Song Choice Artist Result
Top 24 Somewhere Only We Know Keane Safe
Top 20 Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai Safe
Top 16 All Mixed Up 311 Safe
Top 12 You Keep Me Hangin' On Diana Ross and the Supremes Safe
Top 11 Time of the Season The Zombies Safe
Top 10 Lovesong The Cure covered by 311 Safe
Top 9 Mack the Knife Kurt Weill
Popularized by Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong 		Safe
Top 8 I Need to Know Marc Anthony Safe
Top 7 When the Stars Go Blue Ryan Adams covered by Tim McGraw Bottom 3
Top 6 Imagine John Lennon Safe
(Non-Elimination Week)
Top 6 You Give Love a Bad Name Bon Jovi Safe
Top 4 You Should Be Dancing
This Is Where I Came In 		Bee Gees Safe


Semi-finals

  • Week 1 - February 20, 2007, Blake sang "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. Randy Jackson said that he was shocked at Blake's song choice, but he liked it despite some pitch problems. He hoped that Blake would always keep the beatboxing "as a part of your things". Paula Abdul said she was also shocked at the song choice, but loved his falsetto and the contemporary vibe that he gave to it. Simon Cowell said it was the best performance of the night so far, because he was the only one to sound like "a singer from the year 2007". Blake survived the cut of four contestants and made the top 20.
  • Week 2 - February 27, 2007, Blake dedicated his performance of Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity" to his parents because of their continuous support and inspiration. Randy said he loved that he brought back his beatboxing style and said "I love you, man!". Paula said that he is smart, unique and there is no one else like him in the competition. Simon said that the first part of the song was a "copycat" of the music video, the second part was original, but he lost his tuning in the third part. In all, Simon was very disappointed. Despite Simon's bad review, Blake made the top 16.
  • Week 3 - March 6, 2007, In this week's "tell all" episode of American Idol, Blake confessed his love for improv comedy and that his favorite holiday was Halloween. His performance of this week was "All Mixed Up", by his all-time favorite band 311.[11] Randy stated that he loved this season because of the contemporary singers in the competition, including Blake. Paula said how much she loved the performance, and how it impressed her that she enjoyed it even though she never heard the song before. Simon said he was an individual in the competition, he was making it contemporary, and that he 100% would be here next week. Simon's words were true, and Blake made it to the top 12.

Finals

  • Week 1 - March 13, 2007, Blake hit the new stage singing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" under the direction of Diana Ross. He responded to a viewer question before the performance, listing Michael Jackson and Prince as some of his favorite artists since they "can perform really well". Blake took the song into his own hands, and spun it into a more contemporary beat, which did not sit right with some of the judges. Randy said that it was a good performance that he did not necessarily have to "blake-ize", advising him to let his vocals work more and let the classics be the classics. Paula agreed with Randy, and Simon said he did not think the performance worked, and that his vocals were not as good as they have seen. Notwithstanding the poor comments made by the judges, Blake made it to the top 11. Brandon Rogers was eliminated.
  • Week 2 - March 20, 2007, Blake soared into the Top 11, this time under the direction of Peter Noone, singing "Time of the Season" by The Zombies. Randy loved his performance saying that unlike last week, Blake made an old classic contemporary in a subtle, smooth way. Paula said that Blake has raised the bar of the competition, and that his performance was good enough to be released on an album. Simon said it was a million times better than last week, and that he found a good way of making a classic song contemporary. Blake's performance earned him a spot in the top 10. Stephanie Edwards was eliminated.
  • Week 3 - March 27, 2007, Blake hit the stage again singing The Cure's "Love Song", under the direction of the popular singer Gwen Stefani. Randy said he was not "jumping up and down" but he liked it, even though it was not the best song choice. Paula said she loved what he did with the song, and she would love to see him in the finale. Simon believed that he was the front runner of male contestants in the competition, but he had to be careful not to become too indulgent. Blake was safe yet again, making it into the top 9. Chris Sligh was eliminated.
  • Week 4 - April 3, 2007, Blake made the top 9, singing the classic "Mack the Knife" by Kurt Weill this time. Blake was coached by the legendary Tony Bennett. Randy said he liked it despite some pitch problems, and that he always looked forward to what Blake would be doing next. Paula said that he "personified pizazz" and that he was "just cool". Simon said it was a good song choice, and that Blake was a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Blake secured his position in the top 8, and Gina Glocksen was eliminated.
  • Week 5 - April 10, 2007, Blake chose to sing "I Need to Know" by the popular Latin singer Marc Anthony, under the coaching of Anthony's wife, Jennifer Lopez. All the judges were impressed and complimented him on the performance. Randy said he had the "best song choice of the night" and it was a "hot performance". Paula thought both his performance and the song choice were excellent and smart. Simon agreed with them, saying he had the best choice of song as well as the best performance so far for the night. Blake was safe again and made into the top 7. Haley Scarnato was eliminated.
  • Week 7 - April 24, 2007, during the special Idol Gives Back, Blake performed "Imagine" by John Lennon. Randy thought the song was just OK for him, it did not move him. He liked the song choice. Paula thought the performance was simple, as it should have been sung. Simon thought that song felt sincere, however, it did not seem to go anywhere. During the two hour Idol Gives Back results show on April 25, 2007, Blake and the other 5 remaining contestants were all safe. Votes for this week were tabulated into the votes earned on the May 1, 2007 show. On May 2, 2007, the bottom two contestants would be voted off based on the two-week vote totals combined.
  • Week 8 - May 1, 2007, during this Bon Jovi themed week, Blake sang "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi. In performing the popular 1980s song, Blake incorporated a huge beatboxing component, making it sound significantly different from Bon Jovi's version. The original singer who also coached the contestants commented Blake's rendition as "rolling the dice". All three judges acknowledged the huge risk of Blake's incorporation, but also praised him for his originality in including beatboxing. Simon predicted that 50% of the audience "would absolutely hate it" but another half would love it, and he went as far as to predict he would last at least another week on American Idol. While being the last two contestants waiting for the results on May 2, Blake and Chris Richardson answered Ryan Seacrest's question about their close relationship, saying that they are best friends.[12] Phil Stacey was eliminated from the first group and Richardson was eliminated from the second group.
  • Week 9 - May 8, 2007, during the Bee Gees themed week, the contestants were coached by Barry Gibb. Blake chose to sing two songs, including a disco track "You Should Be Dancing" and a reggae single "This Is Where I Came In", which were recorded by the band originally. He sang the former basically with falsetto throughout the song. While Paula praised both of Blake's performances for his originality as well as his contemporary vibe, Randy and Simon did not share Paula's enthusiasm. Randy thought the beatboxing was getting "old" and he was not satisfied with the scat singing that Blake added to the songs. Simon even went as far as to predict that Blake, along with LaKisha Jones, were vulnerable for possible elimination. Despite the poor reviews by some of the judges, Blake made into the top 3 while Jones was eliminated during the results show.

Since the departure of Lakisha Jones, Vote for the Worst has deemed Lewis their new "worst" contestant for the reason of being too artistically independent to be in a binding contract with 19 Records, if he would win. The website has also described him as "the only semi-entertaining person left on the show".[13]

Discography

Compilation albums

  • Human Element: The World's First Human Beatbox Compilation (June 15, 2004) (under the stage name "Bshorty")[14]

Trivia

  • Lewis is 5ft 7in.[15]
  • Lewis was inspired by Matthew Selby, a former member of the Los Angeles-based a cappella group M-Pact, to start beatboxing.[16] Coincidentally, Rudy Cárdenas, one of the finalists of American Idol Season 6, is a member of the group.[17]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Bothell: City Designates Day to Honor Its "Idol"". April 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Blake Lewis on American Idol". Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  3. ^ "Blake Lewis Fans Cheer on Their 'Idol'". April 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Blake Lewis Hits the Big Time on "American Idol"". March 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "The Biography of Five Mouth Musicians". Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  6. ^ a b "Blake Lewis: The Beat Boxer". March 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Save Your Seattle Snark, Simon". February 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Blake Lewis' biography on TV.com". Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  9. ^ "Bothell Swoons For Blake". May 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Exclusive Interview by BlakerGirls.com". April 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ ""Idol" Gets Its First Taste of Hip-Hop - Thanks to a Rock Band". March 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Chris Richardson: I Knew I Was Going Home". May 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ ""Vote for the Worst: B-B-B-Blake". May 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ ""Human Element: The World's First Human Beatbox Compilation" on Amazon.com". June 15, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Blake Lewis' biography on BlakerGirls.com". Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  16. ^ "Blake Lewis on American Idol". Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  17. ^ "Rudy Cárdenas' biography on M-Pact official website". Retrieved 2007-04-09.

External links

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