Country music week is always interesting on Idol, because generally at least 2/3 of the singers have NO idea how to sing country. Madness ensues, with much griping from the judges and creative arrangements from the contestants trying to "make it my own".
This was my least favorite week so far, but there were a few stand-outs.
Michael Sarver: He's a solid contestant, though not the best singer. He's got the down-home reputation and the good looks to boost the votes. This week his rendition of "Ain't Goin' Down til the Sun Comes Up" was decent but not great.
Allison Iraheta sang “Blame it on Your Heart” by Patti Loveless and she did a good job as usual. I just cannot believe her voice is coming out of a 16 year old body. It's unbelievable. Considering that she's totally not a country kind of girl, she did just fine. I think she's going all the way to the end.
Kris Allen sang another crowd-pleasing but not very powerful song, “To Make You Feel My Love” written by Bob Dylan. Simon calls him a puppy and I agree. I like his style because I like easy-listening pop, but lets be honest, Kris isn't an unusually good singer, he's just a charming guy with a guitar and a decent voice.
Lil Rounds is a powerhouse singer, and she picked “Independence Day” by Martina McBride. for some reason Lil has never wowed me, I feel like she's lacking an emotional connection to the songs and the audience. In any case, she didn't do so well with country music, and I think she might be at risk this week.
Adam Lambert ..... oh my word. I think this was probably a good choice for him because he's going for the rocker bad-boy image, and he achieved that this week by totally turning his nose up at country music and completely changing "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash into a sitar-backed haunting middle-eastern rock song. It was.... SO WEIRD. The judges didn't know how to react and I bet most of America didn't know how to either. However, he gets points for gutsyness AND he hit some bone-chillingly high haunting notes that he hit DEAD ON. His freakish performance deserves a youtube preview...
Scott MacIntyre went with another Martina McBride song, “Wild Angels.” I think Scott does not have a good enough voice to make it through another week. There. I said it. Yes, he's inspiring as a blind piano player/singer, but he doesn't have enough control, people!!
Alexis Grace took on "Jolene", which is a great song by Dolly Parton, and ... it sucked. Didn't like it. Her voice cracked. Kick her off. Well... maybe not. She's still got a great voice and this was her worst week by far, so maybe she'll redeem herself.
Danny Gokey is one of my favs, and he took on “Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood, which is a song I have grudgingly given a second chance. It wasn't his best performance at all.... but I think he's normally fantastic and this time was just ok. He'll be fine. Everyone loves him.
Anoop Desai surprised me by lasting through last week, but he totally impressed everyone when he did a beautiful version of “You Were Always on my Mind” by Willie Nelson. It was a good choice for him to go with a soft ballad and hit it dead-on.... he connected emotionally. Now if he can just do a repeat performance next week, maybe I will have regained my faith in him.... hmm...
Megan Joy Corkery went with Patsy Cline's, “Walking After Midnight", and I think it was a good choice because it fits well with her raspy, unique voice. Unfortunately, her raspy voice was weakened by apparently being in the hospital with the flu. It was a weak performance, not as bad-ass as I think it would have been if she had been totally healthy. Oh, and Megan? Put some clothes on.
Matt Giraud is strange for me, because I can never remember him when I'm mentally going through the contestants. Every week he sings a decent song that the judges praise and I am ok with, but then I can barely remember it the next week. This time he sand “So Small” by Carrie Underwood, and yet again the judges loved it and Isaac (my husband) hated it, and I thought it was ok. Hmmm... do you guys like him?
My faves of the week?
Anoop Desai
Adam Lambert
Danny Gokey
Allison Ireheta
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