Published May 27, 2005
The winner of this year’s Icelandic Idol competition… yes, like American Idol. And World Idol. You want us to stop here? No? Okay, Hildur Vala won Icelandic Idol easily: blessed in both the beauty and voice departments, Hildur Vala seems to have the tools to make an impact in the music scene. Unfortunately, as with Idol winners worldwide, she has a difficult time with phrasing and making the songs her own.
Hildur Vala’s first album is a lesson in how to waste good material. Even the cover doesn’t do her justice. The English-language songs include Chuck E.’s In Love. How many things have to go wrong in the world before someone is forced to re-record that product of Satan’s most bastardly spawn, we have no idea. Worse is an interpretation of Dark End of the Street in which we learn that a strong voice and good range DON’T equal SOUL.
The Icelandic Idol’s Icelandic-language numbers would make up for the English-language disasters if it weren’t for the over-production—nothing as annoying as clouding a nice interpretation of a song with ho-hum crowd singing heavy on the reverb.
Ultimately, we wish they would have just given Hildur Vala a tape recorder and a guitar and gotten out of the way. Hopefully they will on the next album.
Worth three beers. Costs four beers.
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