Brandon's Buzz

Lee DeWyze — “Me and My Jealousy” (from Live It Up) —

In terms of pure unrefined talent, Mr. DeWyze was the strongest Idol winner to come down the pike since Carrie (if not Kelly, and please don’t send me letters trying to sway me toward Jordin or Taylor!). So it crushes me, verily, to see that talent being largely squandered on Lee’s major label debut Live It Up, the first few songs of which force their performer to shamelessly (and, clearly, uncomfortably) ape Sherry Ann’s boho hero Jason Mraz (as though, at one, the world doesn’t already have enough of those!), even though, practically to a performance, all of DeWyze’s standout moments on the show last season — his riveting riff on Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars,” or his soul-shaking take on Paul Simon’s “The Boxer,” or his epic, electrifying showdown with Crystal on “Falling Slowly,” the magically magnificent title theme from Once — found him in full-on angst-ridden, get-on-that-stage-and-bleed mode. Live blessedly picks up around its midpoint, as Lee stumbles toward his comfort zone with tunes like “Jealousy,” a mournful ode to the one that he regrets he let slip away.

names dropped with reckless abandon: "American Idol", Carrie Underwood, Crystal Bowersox, Jason Mraz, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Lee DeWyze, Paul Simon, Sherry Ann, Snow Patrol, Taylor Hicks