As anyone who watches Idol (or better, reads this blog) knows that the number one thing our talented Idols struggle with is song selection. So tonight should be interesting--I'm not a betting man, but I would definitely like to know the odds in Vegas for how long it will take for the judges to complain about poor song selection and then to rattle off the song the Idols SHOULD have chosen. Again, why don't they just tell them what to sing and then focus on the performance?! Redundant, I know. Anyway, let's see what songs they pick and how they perform them.
- The first performer of the night is also the oldest of our remaining contestants, Danny Gokey who was born in 1980. Danny kept with the country theme for which he has drawn strong praise from the judges and did his version of Mickey Gilley's version of the Ben E. King classic, "Stand By Me". Danny did the first part of the song accapella and then went into a bit of scat followed by an R&B feel. Randy said he didn't care for the arrangement, but loved Danny's vocals. Kara complimented Danny for making the song his own. Paula said he set the bar so high that the rest of the contestants are going to have to run to catch up to him. Simon said the begining was good, the middle lazy, and the end terrific--overall score: Great!
- Born in 1985 in Jacksonville, AR, Kris Allen took the stage next. Before singing his song, we learned that Kris' dream job as a child was to be a taxi driver. I'm pretty sure that isn't happening after your Idol success, Kris. But how would he do with Don Henley's "All She Wants to Do is Dance". Kris took a page out of Matt Giraud's playbook and performed his song on the mini stage to the right of the judges table and amongst his adoring fans. Kris gave the song a little jazzy feel--and Kara picked up on it as well. She felt he went with a Jazzy-Funk style and missed the mark. Paula thought he did a nice job of transforming a one-note song and giving it a melody that played to his likability. Simon wasn't quite so nice calling it indulgent, saying he appeared to be a guitar player trying to sing, and was a "stupid, stupid" song selection! I guess it only took two performances to get to the song selection zinger! If you had #2, pick up your prize on the way out!
- Let's see what Lil can do with her choice of song from her birth year 1984. Lil danced her way onto the stage in Tina Turner style and asked the musical question: "What's Love Got To Do With It?" I've never been a big fan of the song and Lil's performance didn't change that feeling. Paula kicked off the judging and let Lil know that she needed to step up this week and didn't--she even went so far to say it sounded Karaoke...Miss Paula is getting a bit salty now isn't she! Simon went further and called it a "ghastly, copy-cat version". While Paula and Simon argued about who gave the better critique, Randy stepped in and said Lil needs to start listening to the judges. Kara poured even more salt onto the gaping wound saying Lil sounded bad at the low end and neededto take a leap to higher things--something she hasn't done in a long, long time.
- Still riding high from watching his North Carolina Tarheels massacre the Spartans of Michigan State in last night's NCAA championship game, Anoop "Dogg" Desai went back in time to 1986 and chose Cindi Lauper's "True Colors". A week after finding himself in the bottom three for, as Kara said, accepting a frat boy bet to sing hip-hop, Anoop was back in his sweet spot singing a ballad. Dressed in a Kelly green striped sweater and seated on a stool on the stage, Anoop was back to performing like the great singer that he can be. Randy, Kara, and Paula were all impressed with his performance, crediting him with taking control of the song instead of letting the song control him. Simon, as usual, summed up everything by calling Anoop a "singing yo-yo" meaning one week he's up, the next he's down. Well this week he was up and Simon noted that Anoop did what Lil can't: make a song his own.
- Half-way through the Idols and next up was 23-year-old Scott MacIntyre who was born in 1985 and said when he was younger, he wanted to be a train engineer. But Scott's mad piano skills likely have put that dream to bed which is ironic because tonight Scott appeared on stage not seated at a piano, but standing on center stage with an electric guitar in hand. To entertain the crowd, Scott chose "The Search is Over" by Survivor. Kara and Paula were both surprised that Scott ditched the piano in favor of the guitar, but their surprise only masked their disappointment as the song and the style weren't Scott. Simon said the singing was atrocious, the guitar playing not much better, and said he needs to get back to the piano where he is much better.
- Allison, the youngest Idol contestant, chose Bonnie Raitt's 1992 hit "I Can't Make You Love Me"--one of my favorite songs of all time. As I awaited her first note, I wondered if Allison's big voice would be able to mellow enough to add the necessary warmth needed to really deliver the song. Paula thought she added some tenderness to the song and kept the arrangement the same, but delivered in a very Allison style. Simon liked the performance, but said Allison needs to develop more of a personality. Randy agreed with Simon on both parts--sounded good, needs to get America to love her. Kara simply said "let's go make a record".
- Born in 1985, Michigan native, Matt Giraud went with Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover"--not a song I would have selected for Matt, but this guys has talent, so I was interested to see how he would put his special spin on it. He started out strong, channeling his inner Justin Timberlake and just go stronger. The judges were short and sweet with their praise: Randy - "vocally one of the best of the night", Kara - "incredible on every level--unbelievable", Paula - "two words, Standing O", and Simon - "a million times better than last week, well done".
- Adam Lambert was in the usually enviable position of closing the show tonight, however since Fox ran long and my DVR stopped recording before his performance, I was forced to go to You Tube to search for his performance and the only one I could find was audio-only version--I can't tell you if he was wearing eye liner, had his nails painted goth-black, or was wearing his hair in an 80's perm. What I can tell you is Adam's song choice from 1985 was "Mad World" by Tears for Fears and from the sound of the crowd on the recording I heard, they loved him. It's really academic at this point in the contest as to what the judges think about Adam--they love his originality, how current he makes every song sound, and the risks he takes to be an artist, so I'll make the educated guess that they were kind to him, Ryan gave out the number to call to vote for him, and the show ended with a recap of everyone's performances plus their respective numbers. If anyone saw/heard something different, please add your comments below.
So with all eight performances out there for all to see and hear, it's time to talk about who's in trouble come tomorrow's elimination show. I predict that Kris, Lil, and Scott will find themselves questioning their song selections and performances once Ryan sends them to the B3 stools. And the Idol whose journey has reached its end will be Lil Rounds who took too many punches from judges tonight to survive another week.
Tune in tomorrow to see how close I am in my prediction as well as the usual Elimination night time wasting stuff--you know, group sing, Ford commercial, special guest singers, blah-blah-blah!
Until then, I will continue watching TV so you don't have to...
Peace!
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