Jack Vidgen, who won Australia's Got Talent at the age of 14, has been described as the Down Under's answer to
Justin Bieber, but as his debut album,
Yes I Am, reveals, the only thing he has in common with the Canadian pin-up is his mop-top haircut. Indeed, the winner of the 2011, fifth series of the Cowell-created show may look like he's suited to boy band ballads and overproduced urban pop, but his phenomenal, soulful voice, which sounds like it should belong to one of the several superstar divas whose songs appear here, is a world away from the heavily Auto-Tuned vocals of his teenage counterpart. Unfortunately, released a mere two weeks after beating escape artist Consentino in the final,
Yes I Am is a glaringly obvious rushed job which bears all the karaoke hallmarks of most talent show contestants' first offerings. The four tracks he performed during the auditions and live finals which endeared him to the nation, are a no-brainer, and the studio recordings of
Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain,"
Jennifer Holliday's "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going,"
Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing," and the co-penned gospel ballad title track (one of two original compositions featured here, alongside the synth-led R&B of "Fly!") are as competently performed as his more familiar renditions of them. But Australia's Got Talent musical director Chong Lim's production makes little effort to distinguish itself from the originals, ensuring
Vidgen is always facing an uphill battle to make such iconic standards as
Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High,"
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You," and
Aretha Franklin's "Think," his own. The lesser-known
P!nk album track, "Glitter in the Air," provides a welcome respite from the usual suspects of
Mariah ("Hero") and
Celine ("Because You Loved Me"), who he admittedly more than holds his own against. But despite chickening out of its legendary, glass-shattering note, it's only in his acoustic interpretation of
Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You," that the album matches his undeniable potential. More a by-product of the series he came from than a genuine debut album,
Yes I Am is as formulaic and clichéd as you'd expect, but if he's lucky enough to find a team who can nurture his talent, there's no reason why
Vidgen shouldn't transcend his talent show beginnings. ~ Jon O'Brien