Good Evening, America! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I always thought the month of April meant Spring-like conditions. If that were truly the case, I wouldn’t have had to walk to work in the snow this morning. It’s not like it was a blizzard or anything, just flurries, but still… I think it gives me the rights to whine a bit. And the only thing that will make it better is to see some wannabes that I don’t like pick horrible songs and sing them badly. With that cheery thought, this… is American Idol!
Tonight’s theme is all about songs from the “Year You Were Born”, and by “you”, I mean the contestants and not the people reading this blog. For 7 of these Idols, that means I get to hear songs from the 80’s. (Yay!) I’m quite excited about what this night will bring. Now, if only we had Casey Kasem to introduce these classic hits, the night would be perfect. But alas, we do not.
Danny Gokey is up 1st tonight with the 80’s version of the 60’s classing “Stand By Me”. For the first half of the song, Danny sings a slow, torch-song version, then later kicks into a reggae-esque version, then finishes off with some pure 80’s sound. It’s an interesting musical trip we just took, and overall, I liked it.
Kris Allen is 2nd with “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” by Don Henley. When he was little, he wanted to be a taxi driver. I can relate, because when my brother Barry was little, he wanted to be a ‘Mon Back. (That is the person that stands on the back of the garbage truck motioning to the driving to go further in reverse while yelling “Mon Back… Mon Back”.) Kris has added some trumpets to the arrangement, and he’s decided to play electric guitar in the mosh pit, though this version isn’t moshable in the least. I’m a big fan of Kris, and he does have a great voice, but this performance was just very blah for me. Just blah.
Lil Rounds is 3rd with “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner. I’m loving this choice. Much better than the Celine choice of last week. In all honesty, Lil is no Tina Turner, but really, who is? She doesn’t do a bad job, at all, but I feel like she’s fading as the weeks go on. I don’t see the Lil I fell in love with anymore. She’s definitely talented, and I want her to sizzle, but it’s been more of a fizzle.
Anoop Desai is 4th with “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper. He apologizes for acting like a (fill in the blank with the nasty word of your choice) last week. This song is a brave choice. His sweater is distracting. I love his performance, and his voice is tremendous. Anoop is definitely the least consistent of the remaining Idols. One week he’s great. The next week he’s crap. Anoop will have to work on his consistency if he wants to stay in the competition. He should be safe this week though.
Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre is 5th with “The Search is Over” by Survivor. I can’t even make snarky comments on his desire to be a train conductor or his love of all things spooky. It was funny enough, as is. I will give him credit for not hiding behind the piano this week, but his nasal voice isn’t doing anything to help this already annoying song. It’s like someone said, “What can we do to make Scott seem hip, cool, and relevant? I know! Let’s put him in a leather jacket and give him an electric guitar!” Sorry. Fail. Ooooh, that high note…. Ugh. I want to commend him for trying, but no… I have to say tonight’s theme for Scott was “trying too hard”.
Allison Iraheta is 6th with “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Rait. I love this song, so I’ll forgive her for being the only 90’s song of the night. I was so mesmerized by her performance that I forgot to type. Let’s just say, she hit it out of the park. This is the Allison I love. The first 5 tonight could take a lesson from her.
Matt Giraud is 7th with “Part Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder. This is also the Matt that I know and love. This style is perfectly suited for him, and he really shines. Maybe all it took was Allison to turn the night around? Matt definitely has a lot of potential, and he showed it tonight.
Closing the show is Adam Lambert-Martin with “Mad World” by Tears for Fears. This single spotlight is perfect for this song, and vocally he proves, once again, that he’s leaps and bounds ahead of the others in the Top 8. There isn’t much I can say. It was chilling. He was flawless.
Well, that’s our show for tonight. It was definitely a mixed bag. The beginning of the show was up and down with good and not-so-good performances, but the last 3 saved the night. Our Top 3 are easily Adam Lambert-Martin, Allison, and Matt. The Bottom 3 would probably be Scott, Kris, and Lil. Fingers crossed the Pity Vote finally goes home. I guess we’ll find out together. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.