Have you ever wondered what the judges of singing competitions such as Idol competitions mean when they say "you've truly made that song yours"? I have. To me, that comment seems vague and lacking in details.

So, I've tried in a way to listen out how differently different artistes perform the same song. What better example to take than No Boundaries, a song specially written for the final two standing on American Idol 2009. According to Idol history, a new original song is written for the two finalists. One YouTube user calls such a song the "coronation song". Since no one has ever performed the song before, the finalists are able to interprete the song in any manner they like, so there will be no prior expectations of how the song should be performed.

Have a listen to Kris' and Adam's versions of No Boundaries.





Key
K: Lower (Eb maj)
A: Higher (F# maj)

Introduction
K: Little or no vocal and instrumental introduction
A: Piano introduction with vocal prelude

Vocal style
K: Nice clear voice
A: More scream-like; vocal acrobatics

Vocal back-ups
K: More subtle (single voice) back-ups
A: More varied vocal back-ups; an ensemble of back-up singers at the chorus; outro with technologically enhanced vocal back-ups

Form
The form is basically the same. However, I googled the lyrics for the song No Boundaries and received different lyrics depending on who is singing the song. The main differences lie in their endings.

Ending
K: "Non-conclusive ending" (for lack of better words to describe). This kind of ending is quite common with pop singers. It sounds to me like a sigh fading off.
A: Perfect cadence

Musical style
K: Ballad-style?
A: More rock-ish, with a stronger drum beat

See the differences between their performances? So that's what the judges mean when they say "you've truly made that song yours".