American Idol Top 8

American Idol Top 8
Originally uploaded by Amyq

I don't like this theme. I didn't like it last year, don't like it this year. Too limiting. I'd much rather have a week like last week with an almost nonexistent them then a theme that's too narrow. Anyways, considering that annoyance, this week turned out OK.

• Danny Gokey
  

Unlucky spot number one, who is generally forgotten by the end of the show! Will Danny's ratings drop this week? I've said before that Danny's popularity peaked early and he really has to work hard to get attention back from the spot-light thieves that are Adam Lambert and Kris Allen... and this week Matt Giraud.

By the way, anyone remember Chris Sligh? Curly haired chubby guy with an awesome voice and a great sarcastic sense of humor?



In any case, his blog this week talked about meeting up with Danny Gokey and Jason Castro this week. How fun is that?

Danny sang "Stand by Me", and to me, it's boring. He always sings well, but he needs to really keep my attention right now, and he fails. The judges rave, though. Do they just love him, or did I really miss something?

• Kris Allen

I've loved Kris the last few weeks, but this week's "All She Wants to do is Dance" is sort of uninteresting... much like Danny Gokey. Unlike Danny, the judges roast him. Helllooo... favoritism?

• Lil Rounds

Simon still cannot say "Lil". He just doesn't get it.
While Danny needs to really impress us to stay at the top, Lil needs to really impress us to keep from getting kicked off. She too fails to impress in her performance of "What's Love Got To Do With It." I will say that I feel like it is a little bit more tender and emotional than some of the previous weeks, but given that EVERY week she's had the same problem, I'm officially giving up. I believe I said that last week about Megan - so Lil better look out? She's got pipes, but she tries to be a diva before developing a connection with fans that allows her to really bust it out and have the audience get caught up in the song with her.

• Anoop Desai

Hah, I love it. Anoop is such a college kid. He can't help it. This week the shirt and the obvious excitement for the Tarheels just boosted his frat-boy reputation. And he apologized very pointedly for sassing Kara last week. Hmm... well, I think Simon is right and you don't have to apologize for sass on AI... unless Anoop really was just mad and so was intentionally rude rather then just trying to mess around to make himself interesting. If that's the case, then the apology was deserved and I respect him for it.

In any case, Anoop copies Kris and Adam and tries to do a slow, soft, and tender performance to win some extra connection with the audience. He's not quite as believable as Kris and Adam, but "True Colors" was still a great, emotional song. I like it, but after three boring performances, I am actually longing for something peppy.... uh oh... piano ballad boy is up next....

• Scott MacIntyre

I groaned at the start of Scott's song because it started off as yet another sappy song from him, and I am so tired of hearing those performances. I looked up after groaning and was shocked to see him playing guitar! Impressive... but then again, he didn't play amazingly well.

I must say, Scott has really matured as a performer to me. They've helped guide his style, helped him grow in confidence and I really think his singing is better now. I do hate it when I feel like Kara or any of the judges are being nice to Scott because he's blind. That's the worst - a physical disability doesn't need coddling - that makes it worse. Thank you, Simon, for being just straight up honest with Scott. I think it's time for him to go home. His voice is more limited than any other contestant.

• Alison Iraheta

Praise God, it's about time someone came on to spice things up a little. It's amazing, even Alison's baby pictures are cool. It must be innate.

Well, Alison actually disappoints me. She slows it up and does a much older style of performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me". Like Danny and Kris, it is sung just fine, but I find it sort of boring. Last week was sort of boring from her as well - bring it back Alison! Oh, and her skirt... was that a skirt? It was strange.

• Matt Giraud

I told Isaac this was make it or break it week for Matt. He's done well, he's done badly, no one knows what to think of him. He has to bust it out.



He does! Matt totally redeems the snoozefest for me. I LOVE it. He sings "Part Time Lover" and does it funky and fun and bluesy. He smiles and shows his gorgeous dimples (and hides his mole). It reminds me of Blake Lewis, sort of. Great outfit. If I see more of that, Matt will be in my top three.

• Adam Lambert

Usually the last spot is good because your performance is fresh on everyone's mind, but tonight Idol goes overtime and I wonder if Adam's performance was cut off for everyone that Tivos Idol. In any case, I told Isaac that this week would be a tough one for Adam, because he has had three flawless, amazing, and unique performances. How can he possibly keep that up?

(side note: Adam has red hair in this baby pictures!! I wonder what he'd look like with no makeup and no dye)

Amazingly, Adam totally keeps it up. He does an entire performance in ONE spot, mostly sitting in a chair in the center of the stage, lit with a blue spotlight. Like other weeks, his control while singing softly but strongly is UNBELIEVABLE. Every time I hear him sing like that I just shake my head because it is BEAUTIFUL. He is a stunning singer. Half the song is in falsetto, and it is flawless.

And... unbelievable.... Simon gives Adam a standing ovation. That is something I've NEVER seen before.

I just cannot believe Adam is the same guy that was so annoying in the first few weeks of this season. In the past four weeks he has just stunned me.

Best performances tonight:
Adam Lambert
Matt Giraud
Anoop Desai

Three most record/radio ready contestants:
Adam Lambert
Danny Gokey
Alison Iraheta

Three contestants that I love but have been inconsistent:
Kris Allen
Matt Giraud
Anoop Desai

Kick Off Immediately:
Lil Rounds
Scott

If someone other than Lil or Scot goes this week, I'm gonna be mad.

American Idol - Top 9

Wow, what a night. I actually really liked tonight, and I'm really loving this group of finalists.... for the most part. My friend Alysa commented on last week's Idol post that Matt helped lead the worship at her father-in-law's church. That piqued my interest and I did a little research and was amazed to find out that out of the top 11 contestants, FIVE of them helped lead worship at their churches. I already knew about Danny Gokey and Michael Sarver, and on top of that Matt, Kris, and Scott all do as well. Must make some interesting dynamics for Adam!

Anoop Desai -
Hmm.... Anoop decides to do Usher because he's looking for something with more energy. By the time the first line was out of his mouth I had already thought, "Wow, even if he nails this song vocally it's still going to be a strange performance because the man can't look urban to save his life." I've heard other reviewers complain about his frat-boy look, but today Anoop seemed to really be trying to look more cool, but the attempt failed miserably and he looked still looked like a nerd dressed up to sing an Usher song. He's a lovable nerd... but... still a nerd. In the end, his vocals were fine and so was the performance (not nearly as bad as the judges said), but I was left thinking that I just can't see Anoop being a hit singer.

Megan Joy-
Sorry Alysa, I know you like Megan! I do too - I really, really like the quality of her voice and I think it's unique enough to be enjoyable on the radio. The problem is that she has yet to perform well on stage. And .... that's sort of necessary. In any case, Megan sang a Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill song, which I was initially excited about because I thought it would really showcase her husky voice. Hmm... it was SO awkward. All of her little dancy moves were just painful to watch, and she still seems nervous, so it all just fell flat. Then, when the judges raked her over the coals for her performance she waved it off and said she knew what they wanted now and she hoped she'd get the chance to follow their advice next week. I thought the same thing Simon said in the background, "That's what you say every week!" Megan has lost me as a fan - I've stopped voting for her.

Danny Gokey
When Danny said he'd be singing a Rascal Flatts song, Isaac and I knew it would be a good choice for him. Danny was an early favorite and I think since everyone was familiar with him he's been getting lost in the excitement of everyone finding new people that they like. It's important for him to really reconnect emotionally now to keep his fans.... and he did. I got goosebumps at the line "never knowing what could have been", in light of the loss of his wife. It was electric. In the end I think it actually wasn't Danny's best performance, and in the comparison of his single voice to the four-part harmony of Rascal Flatts, Danny seemed pretty plain. Still, as Isaac said, there is something so appealing about him! We laughed because the worship pastor in Danny totally comes out. It just makes sense - he knows how to put emotion into a song!

Alison Iraheta
Alison chose "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. I thought the song would potentially be right up her alley as an intense rock song. She was playing the guitar for the first time, and that worked for her. From the first note it was beautiful, although I really loved the unique subdued beginning more then I liked the intensity of the rock at the end. At the end of the song Isaac turned to me and declared, "She is just ridiculous." She is so consistent, she has such fantastic vocal maturity, and every song she sings is amazing. However, I have to agree with Randy. WHAT was she wearing?? As soon as the group walked out I was like, "I hate Allison's hair!"

Scot MacIntyre
Well, Scot really "worked it out" (as Randy says) with Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are". I chuckled when he said in his intro video piece that he was going to "strip down, it'll just be me and the piano." Really? Stripped down? Haven't all your performances been stripped down? Is this really anything new? In any case, I don't think Scot knows how to do contemporary songs, but for some reason this song really clicked with him and his performance was really good - the best so far. I bet it'll keep him in for another week.

Matt Giraud
When Matt said he was going to sing "You Found Me" from The Fray, I was excited. I thought the song would really fit his voice and style, and I was really impressed with how he changed up the tune. I LOVED IT. I thought It was the kind of performance I'd buy on itunes and listen to over and over again. He really brought me in as a fan for the first time. So, when Paula totally hammered Matt in her critique I was like, WHAT?? I totally disagreed with all of the judges. Someone compared it to when he sang Coldplay and said that rock isn't his style, he's more R&B. I thought - who says? I loved his coldplay performance and I really think he might make a better moody rocker that throws in R&B somewhere. Lets face it - he's certainly not Justin Timberlake, no matter what the judges say. Dude, curly blond hair and scruff doesn't mean mean the boy can dance it out.

Lil Rounds
Same story this week. Lil did Celine Dion's "I Surrender". She sings beautifully. She has a big voice and does big songs, but there was still no connection between her and the audience (or me). Why is that? Randy said she needed more swagger, and I thought that was a good point. I think she needs to do something sassy and fun - Mary J. was a good recommendation. However, at the end when the camera panned to her little girls and one of them gave Randy a hug it was completely adorable, and Lil's tears really helped to give some depth and emotion to her personality. That was a good moment for her. Baby girl deserves an ice-cream on the way home for that one!

Adam Lambert
Seriously, Adam is on a role. THAT WAS AWESOME. He did Wild Cherries "Play That Funky Music". It reminded me of Blake Lewis sort of song choice and is really different then what Adam has done before... but then he's really taken himself out of all categories in the last three weeks, so what am I talking about? In any case, it's a funky song, not a rock show, and Adam did what he's been doing - he took the song and just smashed it, in a good way. He totally sold it, it was just infectious and and SO MUCH FUN. I don't always like the Idol band, but Adam just works the band, and this arrangement was awesome. It's a bit surreal to look back and remember how annoyingly weird Adam was back at the start of this season - he's totally transformed himself.

Please forgive the totally inappropriate introductory comments on this youtube video - it's only an hour since the show ended, and I can't find a better version. I'll try to update in the morning.


Kris Allen
Kris has slowly but surely been impressing me. I thought he was just a preppy kid that had a decent voice, but he's really showing some style and depth now. His performance of "Ain't No Sunshine" sort of reminded me of what Jason Castro did with "Hallelujah". He really made it so tender . I thought it was beautiful, and all of my worries of it being corny were disproved. The man can play piano as well as guitar! And he's workin' the nasty-stash, it looks surprisingly good on him. This week I found a series of photos from Kris and his church group and a missions trip to Thailand. He looked like such a typical Christian college kid, and I thought during the tenderness of his performance that his wife was probably watching and thinking "My husband is HOT!" because he really has transformed himself.

My faves of the week?
Danny Gokey
Adam Lambert
Kris Allen
Matt Giraud

And - as a plug, watch this youtube video of Rascal Flatt's latest hit, Here Comes Goodbye. It was written by Chris Sligh, the chubby guy with curly hair from American Idol a few seasons ago. Chris Sligh grew up in Europe with the same mission that my hubby's family was with, so we were excited when he made it on the show, and we loved his snarky humor (and the fact that he got kicked out of Pensacola for seeing an FFH concert - what??). In any case, the song is about a breakup, but the music video makes an entirely different point and left me (and Isaac, but don't tell anyone! :)) in tears.