Why Shania Twain makes a great 'American Idol' theme
I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Shania Twain will return to American Idol as a mentor this season. I've long thought she was one of the smartest, savviest entertainers around -- traits she showed during her stint as a guest judge earlier this season.
Even better, Twain's songs are uniquely suited the Idol format.
For one thing, they're very adaptable. Collaborating with then-husband Mutt Lange as producer, Twain often made records that sounded as influenced by honky-tonk and Western swing as by Def Leppard and AC/DC. As a result, a song like (If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here could work as an electrified hard-rock stomp or as an acoustic country blues (are you listening, Casey James?).
Also, Twain loves the idea of re-arranging songs. "I'm not a purist when it comes to genre," Twain told me around the time Up! came out. "I'm a student of all the influences I grew up listening to. It's natural for me to hear my song in many different ways."
Twain's last studio album -- 2002's Up! -- came in three versions: a country disc, a pop disc and an international disc that featured Bollywood elements. And in this clip from CMT's Up! Close and Personal, she performs AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long acoustically, with Allison Krauss + Union Station.
Also, the Idol contestants should benefit from the way Twain writes her material. She and Lange intentionally designed her songs to hook the listener's attention, then keep it by offering rhythmic and melodic sections that changed faster than the audience could get bored. Honey, I'm Home, for instance, starts out like a thumping Def Leppard rocker, then suddenly shifts gears into a line-dancing shuffle at the chorus. I'm Gonna Getcha Good! goes through three completely different sections in quick succession -- a low, purring verse followed a bridge with more sustained notes that builds tension released by its bouncy chorus.
Cutting those songs down for Idol time constraints should only accelerate the effect. It'll force the singers to switch gears pretty quickly, but, as long as they manage that, the performances will move along at a good clip, the singers will get to show several facets of their voices, and they ought to get more lighting changes than usual, too.
However, Twain's punctuation-heavy songs can trip you up if you're at all self-conscious. If you have any reservations whatsoever about singing lines like "I gol-darn gone and done it" (from Love Gets Me Every Time), "Rub my feet, gimme something to eat" (from Honey, I'm Home) or "Even my skin is acting weird/I wish that I can grow a beard" (from Up!), you run a great risk of looking like a fool when you try. Unfortunately, Idol just got rid of its one contestant this season who didn't seem to care if he looked goofy.
Here's the full list of Shania Twain songs iTunes has on its American Idol list, which includes not only the songs from Twain's three hit albums -- The Woman in Me, Come on Over and Up! -- but earlier material that she generally has shunned, as well as Amneris' Letter from Elton John's Broadway musical, Aida.
All Fired Up, No Place to Go
Amneris' Letter
Any Man of Mine
Black Eyes, Blue Tears
Come on Over
Crime of the Century
Dance with the One That Brought You
Don't!
Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
(Don't Gimme That) Once Over
Forever and for Always
From This Moment On
God Bless the Child
Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)
Honey, I'm Home
I Ain't No Quitter
If It Don't Take Two
(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!
I'm Gonna Getcha Good!
I'm Holdin' on to Love (To Save My Life)
I'm Jealous
It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing)
It's Alright
Ka-Ching!
Lost My Heart
Love Gets Me Every Time
Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
Nah!
No One Needs to Know
Party for Two
Rock This Country!
She's Not Just A Pretty Face
Shoes
Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday Come So Soon)
That Don't Impress Me Much
There Goes the Neighborhood
Up!
What Made You Say That
When You Kiss Me
Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?
You Lay a Whole Lot of Love on Me
You Win My Love
You're Still the One
You've Got a Way
Waiter! Bring Me Water!
Whatever You Do! Don't!
When
When You Kiss Me
Wild & Wicked
The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...an-idol-theme/1