What is so cool about you is you walk to the beat of your own drum and you do things your own way.” Lionel Richie even gushed, “Oh my God, Arthur, you are a cherished soul in my book, because anyone who can stand before the writer and say, ‘Eh, I'll change the melody, and a few words too, and make it mine,’ it's called an artist. Luke Bryan said, “To sit there and stick to your guns and change the melody to the song is pretty amazing. Two of the judges seemed all-in, actually praising Arthur for his hard-headedness. Onstage, Arthur gave a serviceable performance, albeit one that sacrificed much of the stadium singalong’s anthemic, lighters-up energy along with the melody. I think what you're doing is brave, and I'm all-in.” And I feel like, no, the nature of music is that it's an ongoing conversation,” Chris shrugged. “Some people are very protective of the original. Instead, Chris respected Arthur’s decision to “go rogue” and merely gave him some tuning tips. Chris was a good sport about it we didn’t get a replay of that Season 6 night when Jon Bon Jovi sneered at Blake Lewis’s (actually amazing and historic) beatboxing remake of “You Give Love a Bad Name,” or that awkward Season 5 exchange when Ace Young wanted to give Queen’s “We Will Rock You” an R&B vibe and a visibly irritated Brian May quickly nipped that right in the bud. But to completely ignore the melody of a classic, popular song is pretty extreme - or even disrespectful. Of course, American Idol contestants are often encouraged to “make the song their own,” as they say in the biz - a strategy that has resulted in iconic breakout moments for past Idols like Chris Daughtry, David Cook, Adam Lambert, Brooke White, and Phillip Phillips, to name but a few. “Funny enough, I always thought the melody was the best bit - and that's the bit you've thrown away,” Chris quipped acerbically.Īrthur Gunn plays his version of Coldplay's "In My Place" for Chris Martin. And Arthur had the audacity to strum this radical remake right front of Chris! Chris maintained his cordial British manners during rehearsal, but it was clear from his subsequent subtle shade-throwing that he wasn’t thrilled with Arthur’s artistic liberties. That was when Arthur Gunn - last year’s runner-up, who controversially returned to the competition last week via the “Comeback” twist - covered the A Rush of Blood to the Head single “In My Place.” Arthur’s didn’t seem to know his place, switching up the power ballad so drastically that it was unrecognizable he might as well have performed one of his originals instead. But Coldplay’s catalog is so specific to the frontman’s quirky, charismatic delivery that despite Chris’s enthusiastic coaching efforts, most of the material just didn’t translate to the contestants.Īnd there was Coldplay song that really got lost in translation. And he seemed genuinely invested in the mentoring process. Chris was incredibly humble, at one point even joking that he “can’t sing” (not true), would never pass an Idol audition (probably true), and would soon be surpassed on the charts by Idol hopefuls Willie Spence and Hunter Metts (probably not true). Sunday’s American Idol episode was Coldplay-themed (an Idol first), with Chris Martin mentoring the top seven… and it quickly became apparently that, well, no one can sing Coldplay songs quite like Chris Martin.