I didn't post because I thought it was good. I posted because it was Adam singing "Blue Moon". It fit the theme of the day.
Critical comments of posts and posters is the reason I took a break from Atop. I guess that hasn't changed.
Kittykay, I perfectly understood why you posted and glad you show your frustration. I'm with you.
Now to the points in the critique itself, because I don't agree with the content of what is said either.
a) None of the four contestants sounds good here, incl. Adam
b) Given that Adam obviously has incredible vocal talent, it suggests that the problem resides somewhere else. Just assuming that it must be the other three singers, because it cannot be Adam, is just like all these posts here that assume Adam is the only talent in the universe and there is no other singer worthy of any respect.
Here is what I think is rather going on:
- This was a high school dance. This a not a performance that should have been attempted at this level or at all for that matter. Way too ambitious and wrong for various reasons! It is a complete misjudgement by the teacher who put this together, to assume he can find singers in his school in each category (soprano, alto, tenor/barritone and bass) and make this work. There was no way in hell this was going to work, even if the four all had been vocally brilliant.
1) Singing in a barber quartet style or some variation of that requires voices that naturally harmonize when paired in close vocal proximity to each other. As far as I am aware that means either four male vocal parts or four female vocal parts.
2) It also requires years of practice as a team to be really good at it.
3) Just because you are a great singer does not mean you are good at barbershop singing or even duet or quartet singing in general. That's like assuming that Michael Phelps and Lochte, because they are good swimmers, would also be naturally talented at synchronized swimming. lol. There's my gay thought for the night! Must be the red wine.
Now back to singing.
Adam is very much a talented solo vocalist. When he tries to blend in (i.e. WATC with Kris), he needs to give up tons of what makes him unique in the first place. And even then, I have never found that when he is singing with others i.e. The Prayer that this is Adam at his best. He is a solo artist with a totally unique voice and that is before you add in all the performance stuff and personality showcase on top of that.
Other thoughts I have about this performance:
a) imo, female voices often lend themselves less to close range blending than male ones. The classical arias written for multiple female voices contrast those voices and obviously they use operatic singing technique. The topic of such arias is usually one of conflict and contrast of emotion, not one of assumed harmony. There are a few exceptions, of course, but overall, close harmonies in female arias are not as frequent. Female opera voices stand out!
b) female barbershop quartet does exist, its called Sweet Adelines, but not as frequent as their male counterpart. Here is an example of one that is well done, for those interested.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU4ITDUytM0c) I tried to find a barbershop quartet that tries to cross over from male into female voices and blend all four. I did not find one. It may exist somewhere, but there is probably a reason why it is not frequent.
d) Add a only halfway capable band/orchestra that is rhythmically challenged to the mix and the mess becomes even bigger. To my knowledge, barbershop is meant to be a cappella.
This arrangement had no chance of succeeding and should never have been attempted, especially with high schoolers.
Adam was all over the place and uncertain too, not only the others, and probably quite frustrated to do this, but at that age and as a student not in a position to take charge and/or probably also not experienced enough to even know what could work and what could be done about the problem.
This is in my opinion fully the teacher's fault.
happiness all around 
