PERFORMANCE: KEVIN VAN WARREN
Most people that know Kevin Van Warren know him as overly flamboyant, possibly to a fault. Everything about him was loud and flashy... so when he took the stage for his first performance on Universal Idol, he decided to do what was possibly the most unpredictable thing he could do: keep it tame.
Forgoing the in-your-face fashion and makeup, the eldest Van Warren sibling walked onto the stage in a simple outfit of black jeans, black dress shirt, and red leather jacket, his only makeup the eyeliner he never seemed to go anywhere without.
He looked down at the front row of the audience, to where Evangeline and Amy sat. Evie was his heart and his light... looking at her perfect beauty brought him the strength he needed to bring real heart and feeling into the performance.
"I've had enough of danger And people on the streets I'm looking out for angels Just trying to find some peace"
His voice was captivating, and the crowd seemed enthralled. He was in his element now, and was feeding off of the reaction.
"Now I think it's time That you let me know So if you love me Say you love me But if you don't just let me go"
He wrapped his hands around the microphone, feet wide apart on either side of the mic stand, and he looked up into stars as he approached the chorus, his mind briefly wondering how many beings could hear him right now, how many worlds?
"'Cause teacher There are things that I don't want to learn And the last one I had Made me cry So I don't want to learn to Hold you, touch you Think that you're mine Because it ain't no joy For an uptown boy Whose teacher has told him goodbye, goodbye, goodbye"
This was a risk for him. A big one, in fact. He had spent his entire life singing rock and metal, in some ways trying to copy his own idol, Rob Halford of Judas Priest. But he wanted to become a pop singer. He wanted to show everyone (his family, his friends, The Bale Family) that he could be just as good at this as he was with rock.
"When you were just a stranger And I was at your feet I didn't feel the danger Now I feel the heat That look in your eyes Telling me no So you think that you love me Know that you need me I wrote the song, I know it's wrong Just let me go"
He closed his eyes, at this point having completely lost himself in the melody and lyrics. When he decided to do this, he knew he had to cover George Michael with his first performance. The man had been one of Kevin's biggest influences in going toward a pop song, and was one of his favorite artists. He hoped that somehow, somewhere, he was making the man proud.
"And teacher There are things That I don't want to learn Oh the last one I had Made me cry So I don't want to learn to Hold you, touch you Think that you're mine Because it ain't no joy For an uptown boy Whose teacher has told him goodbye, goodbye, goodbye"
While typically extremely confident, Kevin had his doubts coming into this. Could he really pull this off? Could he give off the right vibe for this kind of music? Could his performances be pulled back enough to do justice to the music he was covering? Happily, he realized that the answer was a resounding 'yes'.
"So when you say that you need me That you'll never leave me I know you're wrong, you're not that strong Let me goAnd teacher There are things That I still have to learn But the one thing I have is my pride Oh so I don't want to learn Hold you, touch you Think that you're mine Because there ain't no joy For an uptown boy Who just isn't willing to try I'm so cold Inside Maybe just one more try"
When finished... there was a moment of complete silence, before the crowd exploded into applause. A relieved smile spread across his face, as he blew kisses to the crowd, before taking a well-deserved bow. No matter what happened, even if he were to be eliminated this first week... he'd proven to himself that he could do this and sound good doing it.