Posts Tagged Aerosmith

American Idol – Final 3 (Results Show)

Good Evening, America! This is a severely important night for Idol. Tonight determines which 2 contestants will duke it out next week to take home the title. There has been a lot of talk all day that it’s too close to call. Is Adam Lambert-Martin a lock for the Final 2? Did Kris Allen do enough last night with his phenomenal performance of “Heartless” to save himself? Are people finally tired of Danny Gokey? All those questions and more will be answered tonight. This… is American Idol!

We start the show with a plug for “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”. If you haven’t seen the first one, I suggest you rent it. I didn’t see it when it was in theatres and ended up watching it this winter. Turns out it’s really funny. Who knew? As for the bit about the Idol desk being in the Smithsonian, overall it was funny too. I heart Ben Stiller.

Seacrest tells us there were 88 million votes last night and that only 1 million votes separated the Top 2. What that tells me is that the Top 2 got a crap ton of votes, and the 3rd person… not so much. (I’ll regret that joke later if Adam is the one to go home.) Jordan Sparks and Katy Perry are both here with us tonight.

Ford Music Video set to “Break My Stride”. Our guys are walking down the street, when all of the sudden… they are savagely torn to bits by rabid dogs! Okay, so Adam turned the world into a giant beige cartoon and threw a steak for the dogs to chase… but my idea was much cooler. Then the guys get into a convertible just as nasty storm clouds form overhead. Thankfully, Beige Cartoon Kris has an allergic reaction that causes his body to swell up, but also gives him the power to blow away the clouds. Whew! That was a close one. Just when things look pleasant, the guys run into a traffic jam. Have no fear, Creepy Cartoon Danny grows tentacles and pushes the cars out of the way. He looks just as pleased with himself as if he had just butchered an Aerosmith song. Ahh, and then they drive off into the sunset. Warm fuzzies all around.

Alicia Keys comes on stage to tell us all about the good works of Idol Strikes Back. I fast-forwarded through most of it, but some child from Rwanda came here to sing. I’m sure it was wonderful.

Before we can get to the results, it’s time to join the Final 3 as they travel back home for parades and whatnot. Danny Gokey is up first for his trip to Milwaukee, which includes: screaming people, the local news, screaming people, radio show, limo ride, screaming people, Jamar (yay!), screaming people, crazy woman in a sparkly dress/pj pants/feather boa, parade, screaming people, Mountie, crying Danny, performance under the highway, screaming people, mayor, screaming people, Brewers game first pitch, and more screaming people.

Kris Allen is next for his trip home. Kris’s video goes: screaming people, local news, screaming kids, limo ride, radio show, performance in an amphitheater on a river, screaming little girls that terrify me, parents’ house, crying dad, performance at his college, parade, pretty wife, baby, scary women in green wigs, screaming girls, performance in a park, Mayor, crying family, words of thanks, and more screaming people.

Jordan Sparks, the winner from Season 6, is here to sing “Battlefield” her new single. She looks amazing! I like this song. It has the feel of one of those songs that will grow on you the more you hear it.

Adam Lambert-Martin joins Ryan on stage to go over his trip him, which included: limo, local news, screaming people, snakeskin boots, screaming people, signing a guitar, radio show, screaming little girls and one old dude who wants Adam to sign his polo shirt, limo, more screaming girls, theatre group for kids, adorable little boy, limo, high school parade, cheerleaders, Mayor, streaker, screaming girls, and a National Anthem performance.

Before we can get to any actual content tonight, Katy Perry is here to sing “Waking Up in Vegas”. A lot of people don’t like her or her music, but I find her thoroughly enjoyable. (I love her cd.) Katy comes on stage dressed like a cross between Elvis and Wonder Woman with Adam Lambert’s name embroidered on her cape. (See, I knew I liked her.) She’s not the best live singer, but she makes up for it with her charisma. I think Ms. Katy Perry is just as adorable as can be.

With 4 minutes left to go in the show, we finally get to the results. The first person in the finale is… Kris Allen. (I’m okay with this, but now I’m getting very nervous for my Adam. I have moved any glass objects or anything remotely breakable out of arm’s reach, because I really don’t want smash something during an anger-fueled tantrum.) The other person in the finale is… ADAM LAMBERT-MARTIN!!!! (So excited right now, you have no idea! This calls for a celebration dance break! I think Paula’s new single “I’m Just Here for the Music” is appropriate.) Kara seems upset that Danny is going home, which means she was rooting for him over my Adam, which proves once again just how stupid she is. (Maybe this could be Kara’s one and only season. I’d be okay with that.) If Allison couldn’t be here to be in the finals with Adam, I’m glad that it’s Kris. (Still would have preferred Allison.)

Well, that’s our show for tonight. Somewhat shocking results. Had my fingers crossed all day that Adam would be in the finals, and even though my Hoops & Yoyo Fortune Teller told me he would be, I was still nervous. I truly expected Danny to be the other person in the finals with Adam, but I’m glad it’s Kris. Next week will definitely be interesting. I’m going to ask you all to do me a favor right now. Next Tuesday, could you please vote for Adam A LOT? For me? Thanks ever so much. Tune in again to see how it all goes down. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.

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American Idol – Final 3 (Performance Show)

Good Evening, America! Here we are, down to the Final 3. In a season that sometimes felt longer than “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, we’re rapidly approaching the finale faster than Kara can say “Here’s the thing”. I know most of us are still mourning the loss of Allison Iraheta. I just keep telling myself that she’s only 17, and she’s got a bright future ahead of her. But we must not dwell on the past. With only one week to go before our winner is crowned, we must focus on the here and now. Because this… is American Idol!

Tonight, our Idols will be singing two songs. The first is a choice by the Judges. The second one is chosen by the Idols themselves. In seasons past, the Judges’ Choice songs have always been perfect selections for each contestant. (Can’t wait to see what they pick for Adam Lambert-Martin!)

First up tonight is Danny “I should have gone home last week” Gokey singing “Dance Little Sister” by Terence Trent D’arby, chosen by Paula. The song seems well suited to Danny’s gravelly voice. It’s up-tempo and fun, but he doesn’t seem to be veering away from the same four notes. Not a lot of range. Thankfully, that keeps him from repeating last week’s Screamfest ’09. It’s rough, and he keeps shouting. Fun way to kick off the show, but not exactly the way to tell America that you deserve to make it to the finale. (Though I’m sure his rabid fanbase will make sure he wins it all. Ugh.)

I interrupt this blog for a special announcement. While Seacrest is trying to read Gokey’s numbers, Simon is attempting to murder Paula. Kara can be heard screaming “Help! Help! Help!” in the background. Not to worry, Paula defended herself by dealing a deadly blow to Simon’s chest. His pec implants deflected the punch though.

Kris Allen is second with “Apologize” by One Republic, chosen by Randy and Kara. (How pissed do you think Randy is that he got stuck with the new girl?) This is an amazing song, and Kris could do something absolutely wonderful with it. Or he could do a complete sound-alike version… like he did. He’s behind the piano, which is a nice touch, but it just shows off how dirty his fingernails are. (If I were appearing before 30 million people, I might make the time to wash my hands, but that’s just me.) He’s not fantastic, but he’s not awful. It was too much like the original for my taste, and One Republic did it better.

Another side note. I completely disagree with Simon about the whole “Kara, you can’t call him out on doing the song when you chose it for him”. Kara chose a song that would work well for Kris’s vocal abilities, but it’s not up to her to arrange it for him and make it different. Mr. Allen should want to help himself stand out in the competition. Instead, he stayed middle of the road, once again.

Adam Lambert-Martin is third with “One” by U2, chosen by Simon. I’m not a huge U2 fan, but I’m willing to give this a listen since Adam’s singing it. I love how understated this performance is. Simple lighting. Piano on the stage. Adam just standing in the middle. His vocals are spot on, and the beauty of the lyrics can really shine. I really don’t think that there’s anything he can’t do. This was perfection. Simply brilliant. (When Adam told America to go back and listen to the lyrics, I think he was not-so-subtly telling the audience that the LGBT community deserves equal rights. Adam is publicly edging his toe out of the closet, ever so slowly.)

Danny Gokey is back to start Round 2 with “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker. I truly dislike this song. Always have. Danny’s sitting on a stool surrounded by just a few band members. His phrasing is subtle, and the performance is understated, just as it should be. This is more of him singing and less of him making noises while trying to pass a kidney stone. Much, much better than his first performance. (Not sure I would have gushed as much as the Judges though.)

Kris Allen is singing “Heartless” by Kanye West. I love this song! Interested to see what he’ll do with it. His acoustic take on this is very reminiscent of Mia Caruthers’s version on MTV’s “Taking the Stage” (which features some of the best and brightest at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts). This is so fresh and contemporary. I figured Kris would be an also-ran tonight, but after that performance, he has a real shot of making it to next week’s finale. Severely impressive!

Adam Lambert-Martin closes the show with “Cryin” by Aerosmith. (Note to Kara, this is not “classic” or “early” Aerosmith.) This is song is perfectly suited for Adam vocally. (The sound people seem to have turned up the back ground microphones a little too much for the chorus.) He’s not straying far from the original, but as he said, with a song like this, you don’t need to. (And no, that isn’t hypocritical of me to say that when I called out Kris on the same thing earlier. And do you know why it isn’t hypocritical? Because it’s my blog, and I said so.) There aren’t enough good things to say about my Adam.

Well, that’s our show for tonight. There were 3 truly spectacular performances. (And 2 of them were by Adam!) For Round 1, I think it went hands-down in favor of Adam. For Round 2, I think Kris Allen’s take on “Heartless” helped him barely edge out Adam. As for tomorrow night, I think it’s anyone’s guess. I would love to say that it will be Adam and someone else in the finale, but you never know. Danny’s fans are extremely loyal (and by loyal, I mean rabid). There’s only one way to find out. Tune in. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.

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American Idol – Final 4 (Results Show)

Good Evening, America! Tonight is going to be an exciting night. For once, I have no idea who is going home. I know who should go home. (I’m looking right at you, Danny Gokey.) Plus, we get 3, count ‘em 3 musical performances this evening, including one by none other than my girl Paula Abdul! (And for those of you who haven’t heard the Paula news today, go to: http://www.lhj.com/style/covers/paula-abdul/ ) With a possible shocking elimination and the potential for greatness from Paula, tonight could be full of surprises! This… is American Idol!

Before we begin, I’d like to start with something that was pointed out to me last night by my friend Greg Cappel. (Yes, of the amazing Cappel’s stores all across the Greater Cincinnati area!!! Cappel’s – Cincinnati’s Leading Party retailer since 1945. http://www.cappelsinc.com ) Greg said, and I quote, “You neglected to mention Kara’s belief that "Cryin’" and "Crazy" (off of ‘Get a Grip’, released in 1993) represent old Aerosmith, while "Dream On" (off of ‘Aerosmith’, released in 1973) is apparently "new". This is another perfect example of Kara’s “genius”. First with “Studio 57” (not to be confused with Heinz 57) and now this. At least when Paula makes blunders, it’s funny. With Kara, it just comes off as stupid. I’m so over her.

As the show starts, we are subjected again to Danny’s scream. Haven’t we suffered enough? I mean, come on, there are children watching. Seacrest reminds us we have performances by No Doubt, Daughtry, and Paula Abdul. And then right into the…

Ford Music Video – to “Move Along”. It features our Idols jumping out of billboards, magazines, newspapers, and a t-shirt. Pretty blah in terms of some of the other videos this season. Some weeks, it’s like they don’t even try to be cheesy and entertain me. Don’t they realize that’s what counts?

Group Song is “School’s Out” with Slash on the guitar. They are definitely singing live tonight. Allison gets the great “No more pencils…” section. When Adam joins in for the harmony, it just takes it to another level. This was definitely one of the better Group Songs this season. Even if Slash did look like a hat with hair.

Danny admits that his final note last night was excruciating. (At least we’re all on the same page.)

Time for Paula Abdul! For once, I loved watching the filler package. The song is called “Here for the Music” and it premiered on Ryan Seacrest’s KISS FM morning show yesterday. I’ve already listened to it more times than I’d like to admit. The vocals are definitely electronically enhanced, and I’m pretty sure she’s lip-synching most of it tonight, but I’m totally okay with all of that. Love the lighting and the fog. The beat is infectious, and I can totally see this being very popular in the dance clubs. I would have loved to have seen more dancing, but what I saw was amazing! (I can’t wait for the video!!) Pretty impressive when you think she put this performance together in 3 days. My favorite part was the dive off the platform and the bounce back up! My thoughts on it overall: LOVED IT! (Like you didn’t see that coming.)

No Doubt is here to do one of their first hits, “Just a Girl”. Oh, how I’ve missed No Doubt! I loved Gwen solo efforts, but hearing this makes me remember how much I love this group. I wanna see that tour! Then a new cd! Severely excited!

Finally, results. There were over 64 million votes last night. The finalists will be announced in random order. (Skipping over footage of past Idols going home.) Seacrest goes over all the judge’s critiques from last night. (Blah, wasting time.) The first person to join the Final 3 is… Kris Allen? Ugh. Well, as long as Danny goes home, all will still be fine. (Very worried for Allison though.)

Daughtry is here, and we’re reminded that he went out 4th in his season as well and went on to superstardom. I think that has more to do with his talent than with where he went out on American Idol. Daughtry is debuting the first single “No Surprise” off their 2nd cd. (Is it just me, or was his guitar gigantic? I’m waiting for him to tip over holding it.) I really like this song. I was not his biggest supporter when he was on Idol, but I’ve loved the music that he’s released so far.

We have 6 minutes left in the show, and 3 contestants still have yet to learn their fate. Better rush it, Ryan. The 2nd person to make it to the Final 3 is… Adam Lambert-Martin! Yay! Now, down to Allison and Danny. After 64 million votes, Danny Gokey is… safe? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That means Allison is going home. This is so wrong. This is not how it was supposed to be. After last night, there is no way that Danny should still be around to sing another week. In all fairness, to all the Danny fans out there, I guess you are entitled to your opinion… even if it is your wrong opinion.

Well, that’s our show for tonight. All the wonderful feelings I had about Paula’s performance were dashed when Allison was sent packing. I really wanted an Adam vs. Allison finale. That would have been something to see. Let’s all take a moment and think good thoughts for Allison and her future career. All I have to say now is that it better be Adam and Somebody in the finals, because if Adam doesn’t make it there… well, I won’t say what will happen, but it won’t be good. Tune in next week for more performances and to see who makes it to the finale. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.

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American Idol – Final 4 (Performance Show)

Good Evening, America! Can you feel the excitement in the air? Yeah, me neither. But we are down to the Final 4. That means after tonight, there are only two performance episodes left before our winner is crowned. But that also means we have lots of filler between now and then to keep us occupied. Not tonight though. Tonight is all about the singing. So, let’s get to it. This… is American Idol!

The Idol Producers, showing their true evil nature, make me relive how my Adam Lambert- Martin almost went home last week. (I had finally started sleeping through the night again. I didn’t need to see that.) Seacrest says that there were a few accidents during the afternoon that prevented our Idols from having a proper run-through, so tonight is “very live”. (As opposed to other weeks when it’s just “kinda live”.) Tonight, besides being Rock Week with Special Guest Mentor Slash, our Idols will be pairing up for duets. There is no doubt in my mind that that will be interesting. (Fingers crossed for an Adam-Allison duet!) Seacrest also hints that this is a special week for my Paula Abdul. (I already know what it is, but we’ll get to that in a bit.)

Adam Lambert-Martin is up 1st with “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. Adam is back to his Rock Look which is like a cross between David Bowie and Dr. Frankenfurter. This song is an excellent choice for him. Adam takes Slash’s advice which helps him to wail without screaming. And just when you think it’s over, he goes in for a big ending, Adam style, and it’s just awesome!

Allison Iraheta is 2nd with “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin. I was hoping for some Heart or Blondie, but if she’s gonna do Janis, why not “Piece of My Heart”? Allison looks wonderful tonight, and Rock is definitely her element. Her sultry voice is perfectly suited to the low verses. The first chorus is amazing, but the second verse is very repetitive of the first, style-wise. I was really hoping she would build to something amazing and blow it up at the end. Not saying I didn’t like it because I did love it, but I was so hoping this would be the week for her to kill it.

Danny Gokey and Kris Allen are the 1st Duet of the evening with “Renegade” by Styx. (This means that we do get an Adam-Allison duet! Yay!) They start out sharing the acapella lead, but when they begin the harmony, it’s amazing. (Kris outsang Danny here). Then they kick it up, again taking turns, but this time being a tad pitchy. (Here, Danny definitely outshines Kris.) For the end, they get back into the harmony, and instead of trying to blend, Danny attempts to outshout Kris. Overall, it was good, but a little disjointed.

Kris Allen is our 3rd soloist with “Come Together” by the Beatles. (If you weren’t around last season for me to extol the virtues of the movie “Across the Universe”, I’ll say it again. Go rent/buy the movie. It’s like “Moulin Rouge” with Beatles songs, and it’s completely fabulous.) This is one of my favorite songs by the Beatles, so he better not muck it up. Of our four finalists, I felt Kris would have the hardest time with the Rock theme. (So not his style.) Tonight, it’s like the good kid next door is trying too hard to show that he’s a bad boy too, and it doesn’t really work. It’s very nice, but that’s all it achieves for me. Nice. (Unless Danny comes out and gives his worst performance of the season, I think Kris is going home.)

Danny Gokey is our last soloist with “Dream On” by Aerosmith. This song is more suited to Adam’s vocal pyrotechnics. I’m so afraid that Danny is getting into the “Me too” mode, thinking that if Adam can do it, he can too. The first part isn’t bad at all. It’s not his best stuff, but it’s not bad. The first few sets of “Dream On’s” were good, but at the end, he’s just screaming words into the microphone, and then for the last note, Danny’s just screaming. Not on pitch. Not even close. Worse than strangling a cat. That was not pleasant. I think my ears may be bleeding. And yet… Danny’s so proud of himself. (He won’t be once he watches this back.) I take back what I said about Kris going home. After that, Danny deserves to hit the bricks. (But I have a sinking feeling that Danny’s going to walk away with the title this season. America loves a nice guy with a good sob story who doesn’t rock the boat.)

Closing the show are Adam Lambert-Martin and Allison Iraheta doing a duet on “Slow Ride” by Foghat. (This is the moment I’ve been waiting for all night!) They take turns on the verses showing off some vocal gymnastics. The chorus harmony is a bit bumpy, but the bridge and ending are nothing short of fantastic. This was everything I wanted it to be! The complimented each other extremely well. If anyone had a problem with either of their solo performances, this performance should have erased any of those thoughts. I agree with Simon, if there was a Battle of the Duets, Adam & Allison were the clear winners.

Well, that’s our show for tonight. Overall, I loved it. Adam and Allison shined in a week that was meant for them. If all goes as it should, Danny and Kris should be in the Bottom 2. Tomorrow night, we’ll be visited by Chris Daughtry, No Doubt, and my girl Paula Abdul will take the stage to perform her new single "I’m Just Here for the Music"! (Words cannot describe my level of excitement over that!) Tune in tomorrow to see how it all goes down. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.

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