The MasterClass Lady’s Review of Casey’s Top 12 Performance

Rosanne Simunovic is a vocal expert who has been critiquing American Idol contestants for years at her MasterClass Lady site.  Here is what she had to say about Casey this week:

Strengths: Casey- you took out the ‘ole electric guitar and just decided to rock out tonight! Good! For! You!.  What was great about this song choice is that it highlighted your enormous strength as a performing artist.  You need to work on some vocal issues, but you wisely selected a song that highlighted the bluesy, gritty qualities in your voice. And it worked!

I absolutely loved the head voice at the end of the song – nice to hear the ease in which you accessed this area of your vocal range.

You also demonstrated superb guitar skills and this added further dimension and excitement to your Top 12 performance.  Also, you were the only person who managed to reach their audience with a guitar in hand during this week’s performance.

Excellent and surprising work this week. Casey! It bodes well for your future showcases. Bravo!

Critique: Casey- you have a great smile, but make certain that you do not allow the “smile” effect to hinder the correct mouth position when  you sustain your vowels.  You need to maintain a circular mouth position when you sustain those vowels.  Also, your jaw must be relaxed and ready to drop as you move toward your upper register.

Although this song was not a challenging number – it was more entertaining than vocally challenging – somewhere down the road you will encounter  a song that will require stellar technical skills.  It’s only a matter of time.

So you must make certain to adopt  the “bel canto” singing technique, as it will add further dimension and focus to your wonderful voice.  And, of course, further refinement of your diaphragmatic breathing skills is a necessity that cannot be underestimated.

However, your performance made a strong impact this week. You looked and sounded confident and, as a result, created a most memorable Top 12 showcase.  Bravo Casey!