Good Morning Star

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As I sat in the hospital waiting to find out what was wrong with my mother, I was expecting a few days' stay as what had happened on previous occasions. I assumed she would be treated and feel better before being allowed to return home. With this assumption, my mind drifted towards the minor inconvenience of being interrupted just as I'd managed to get this blog all up-to-date. I wondered, as I did during the competition, about everything from the arrangement to the staging to the clothes, hair and makeup for the GMA performance. It had been a long time since I'd last had that excited feeling of anticipation and I'd miss following it in real-time. That was before I was given those devastating words that ripped me to shreds. We were in hospital for a few days but my mother never got to return home. Everything else was shot to insignificance and I turned against this obsession.

The GMA Starlight was the first performance I missed after that fateful journey to hospital and my guilt didn't allow me to watch it until a considerable time later, but here goes:

The question was always going to be how Adam would make the song work for the morning crowd as it would be an important opportunity to widen his appeal to a different audience. I correctly guessed that we would see a relatively minimalist Adam with an acoustic arrangement. His look was fairly casual but still fashion-conscious. He sounded very high at the start and there was a slight stutter, but the vocals were pure and smooth without marked losses in volume when sliding into falsetto. We got to hear some of his gorgeous grainy lower register, and also a different singing style where he added an ascending breath between notes. I don't know what the technical term for it is, but there are a couple of examples between 'will never' at 1:43 and 'not to' at 1:48. The song bobbed along merrily - albeit a little rushed - and was bright, conjuring a relaxed and happy feeling on a sunny day. This was partly achieved by the guitar slapping and the keyboard sound resembling a steelpan's, which gave it a very different vibe to the to concert version. I think it's slightly at odds with the meaning of the song lyrics though, which are more on the sombre side. I suppose Starlight is a little too heavy for the morning and needed an injection of cheer. And cheer it did for all those hungry for something new.