Not many people can pull of this song, but Reinhart sure did.
From the very moment that this season of American Idol started, I thought to myself, "Haley reminds me of a young Stevie Nicks." Obviously, record producer Jimmy Iovine thought the same thing and chose this song for Reinhart to sing in finals for the top three contestants.
Unfortunately, Reinhart was eliminated the following night and as a result, the finale between Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina was somewhat of a snooze-fest. Lauren Alaina has a beautiful voice, but the finale would have been much more interesting if the top two were between Scotty McCreery and Haley Reinhart. The battle between the country boy and the rocker chick.
Reinhart should be able to look back on this performance of "Rhiannon" and be proud. She did a perfect job of making this 1975 classic her own. She didn't try to copy Nicks, like many amateur performers sometimes do. Yes, she may have mimicked that "airy-fairy" quality that Nicks possesses in her performances, but she remained sophisticated and brought her own personality into the song. It was a perfect blend of both Nicks and Reinhart in one performance.
Lets take a look at Stevie Nicks' performance of "Rhiannon" in 1976...
Obviously, the original by Nicks wins hands down, but that isn't to say that Reinhart's performance wasn't equally as memorable. We need more singers out there like Reinhart. I am sick of the "too-perfect" and therefore overdubbed voices that I hear everytime that I turn on my radio. Sometimes being imperfect, is what makes the song raw, emotional, and real. Stevie Nicks proved this point in the seventies and continues to do so today, and her musical persona has obviously rubbed off on the young talent of today's generation.
I'm sure that this performance by Haley Reinhart on American Idol would have made Stevie Nicks proud!
JDSkills
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