[MAS]

It’s unfair to pit anyone against her - she sings it so easily so simply and sincerely…I love her version! She’d win “America’s Got Talent any Day! 😂😂

Bennet has a special way to phrase his songs, and he’s in superb voice - listen to his high notes, how easily he hits them, “some WHERE over the rainbow. He makes it his own, ballad like, but it’s not the same song anymore, but it’s gorgeous.

Ray Charles is unique, but less than Tony in this song…
No for the Four Freshmen.
Connie Francis, too tragic…
Melissa Manchester, killed by the arrangement, sorry! Where’s the song?
Mandy Patinkin surprised me again by capturing the mood, but he’s too quirky here; but he’s got drama!
Jackie Wilson has the best sound of all, but I don’t care for the showy vocals.

 

[MAS]

Garland - Bennett - Charles - The Four Freshmen - Francis - Manchester - Patinkin - Wilson

Judy Garland - No one is ever going to be anything but a very distant third place - There is no "Second place" - There's Garland in first and everyone else who ever cut this tune in third...

Despite that... I didn't vote for her - Low hanging fruit and I wanted to force myself to take a closer look at the other contestants by giving them a fair hearing without the fear of being overshadowed.

First vote - Connie Francis - Heartbreaking rendition - just devastating in its emotional impact - This is what someone sounds like when they're desperately trying to escape an abusive relationship - To be anywhere other than where they are at that precise moment - I knew she had technique but never suspected a talent for phrasing this well developed.

Second vote - Tony Bennett - Excellent technique - Superb phrasing - There's a wistful - lonely - quality to the tune - almost as if he's in mourning for a lost love and the tune is more of an expression of someday being reunited - if not in this life - then in the next.

Ray Charles - Not as much technique as Bennett - Who does? - but still an impressively expressive rendition - This too, comes across as a song of genuine heartfelt anguish - which was undermined by the choral arrangement - He should have played this one straight and he might have been able to elbow his way past Bennett.

The Four Freshmen - I had no idea who they were or are - Didn't have a clue as to how to judge something so thoroughly out of my wheelhouse - Did the research - They're very well respected - Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys - I can kind of wrap my head around the concept but the execution is such that I couldn't judge them fairly as I have nothing in my background with which to compare them - They were hugely popular - Sold millions of records - They're very inventive - The vocal harmonies are quite intricate - but all I hear are "notes" - well sung notes - but not actual "words" that are intended to mean anything - I willing to concede that I may be completely missing the point on this one.

Melissa Manchester - powerhouse vocalist - thoughtful interpretation - If Connie Francis wasn't in this contest, she would have been able to push her way past Ray Charles and pick up that second vote - She's a fierce competitor - I give her an automatic entry into every competition.

Mandy Patinkin - If you're inclined to cynicism, he can probably come across as a bit twee - If you're not - If you're a genuinely kind-hearted and good-natured, you probably can't help liking this performance far more than you anticipated - It's difficult to get past the mannerisms upon the first listen but if you can steel yourself for a second (or even third) listen, his artistry eventually becomes manifest - Again, another name that I was only somewhat vaguely familiar with but discovered that he's quite an accomplished actor with an impressive resume - Not quite certain how an entire album would play itself out - Not feeling particularly experimental at the moment so that's a question which shall remain hypothetical for the moment.

Jackie Wilson - great set of pipes - thoroughly enjoyed the tune - like him as a vocalist - he's nothing if not dynamic - but thought that he completely - totally - missed the intent of the songwriter - but this is a vocalist whose work would be worth seeking out - As long as "style" meant more than "substance"...

@Shaughnessy, dear, you coulda still voted for her!