Posts Tagged Carrie Underwood
American Idol – Finale (Performance Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on May 19, 2009
Good Evening, America! This is it! Tonight is the last night for our Final 2 to perform. This is the last night for them to court your votes. This is the last night where I’ll show my complete and total bias for Adam Lambert-Martin… okay, next to last night. Whatever way you look at it, this is a big night. It’s more excitement than I can stand… which is why I’m sitting. This… is American Idol!
Seacrest tells us that tonight is the battle of: the Acoustic Rocker versus the Glam Rocker, Conway versus California, the Guy Next Door versus the Guyliner. He might as well have just said: Good versus Evil or Straight versus Gay, because that seems to be what all internet discussions/hateful comments have come down to. Kris is talented, but at the same time he is a safe and comfortable choice for Middle America. Adam is talent personified, but he himself is quite polarizing. It really will be interesting how this all plays out tomorrow… and in the media.
Each contestant will be singing 3 songs: their favorite performance of the season, one song chosen by the show creator Simon Fuller, and the Winner’s Single co-written by Kara Dioguardi. Seacrest warns us now to set the DVR to record past 10:00, because they already plan to run long. Thanks for the heads up, Shortstuff!
***Round 1: Personal Choice
Adam Lambert-Martin is up first with “Mad World”, my favorite performance of his from this season. (Look, we both agree this is our favorite. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.) There’s a teal glow back-lighting him as he slowly descends a staircase. His voice is wonderfully subdued. Adam’s dressed like he stepped right out of “Twilight”, which if anyone knows me, they know that I automatically love it. His performance is deliciously chilling.
Kris Allen is singing “Ain’t No Sunshine”. He’s at the piano instead of the keyboard this time, and it makes it so much better. It’s got a soulful and intimate feel. I can’t deny that it’s a beautiful performance. I have nothing negative to say about it.
Simon calls Round 1 for Kris. I tend to disagree. At best, I would call this round a draw.
***Round 2: Simon Fuller’s Choice
Adam Lambert-Martin is singing “Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. The “Twilight” coat is gone. In its place is a stylish gray suit. Adam starts the song with a few notes acapella, and then is very subdued again on the first verse. (I’m hoping this is just so he can ramp it up and kill it at the end.) In a minute, he begins to tear it up, and it’s a signature Adam Lambert performance. That last note… wow! Loved it!
Kris Allen is singing “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. He’s rocking the acoustic guitar, and we’re back to Coffee House Kris. (This is why I don’t think he should win. We’ve already got two of him on the music scene right now: John Mayer and Jason Mraz.) It’s very nice, but just middle-of-the-road vocally. I think it’s too laid back for the finale.
Round 2 goes to Adam Lambert-Martin!
***Round 3: Winner’s Single – “No Boundaries”
Adam Lambert-Martin is the first Idol to sing “No Boundaries” by Kara Dioguardi, Cathy Dennis, and Mitch Allan. I have to say that it’s on par with most finale songs, but it took 3 people to write this? Kara, you’ve disappointed me more than usual. Climbing mountains? Weathering
hurricanes? Seriously? At least it gives Adam a chance to show off his upper range (and his shiny pants). It’s not my favorite song for Adam, but I think he did well with what he had.
Kris Allen is closing Round 3 with his version of the craptastic “No Boundaries”. The verse sounds great on Kris’s voice, but the chorus does not. The song is definitely out of his range. I’m shocked he didn’t bring it down a key. When Kris does the song, compared to Adam, it sounds more like the typical Idol Finale song. It lost any of the spark Adam gave it.
Well, that’s our show for tonight. (Oh, and Carrie Underwood sang. So not focused on that right now. Must text for Adam.) Kris Allen definitely did an amazing job on “Ain’t No Sunshine”, but as a whole, I think Adam Lambert-Martin won the night. We’ll see how the votes go down. If you haven’t voted yet, and you are reading this while the lines are still open, PLEASE VOTE FOR ADAM!!! Only one more day of me obsessing about this, promise! Tune in tomorrow night to see who wins. (Please let it be Adam!) Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.
American Idol – Final 11 (Results Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on March 18, 2009
Good Evening, America! Who knew that Country Week would cause some of our front-runners to falter and some of our also-rans to shine brightly? Can you say “Leveling the Playing Field”? (I knew you could.) The results tonight should be interesting, to say the least. Who is safe? Who is going home? I’m on pins and needles, so let’s get on with it. This… is American Idol!
Last night, we had over 31 million votes. Just like last week, only 11.5 million of them were me voting for Adam Lambert. (Gotta love unlimited texting!) Ryan reminds us of the Judge’s Save, hinting that it may need to be used tonight. Is he serious or just doing the usual Seacrest tease? Only time will tell.
Before we can get to any results, it’s time for the group sing. Our Top 11 is singing “Trouble” with Pity Vote at the piano, which frees everyone else up to do choreography, so that’s good I guess. The band is so loud, you can’t hear the piano at all. On purpose? Hmmm. The choreography, though quite simple, seems to cause a few of our Idols a bit of trouble. One week, instead of dreadful choreography, I’d like to see them play a game of Musical Chairs while singing. I’d watch that.
It’s time for the Ford Music Video. (Please be cheesy! Please by cheesy!) This week, they’re singing “Here is Goes Again” while hurling water balloons at each other on the back-lot of the FOX studios. This is the type of pointless nonsense that I’ve come to expect from the videos. They haven’t quite reached the level of ridiculousness that I want, but thank you for not disappointing me. Then there was some sappy stuff about Jasmine and Jorge and some other blah. I got bored and hit fast-forward.
Finally, it’s time for some results. The person who is eliminated tonight will not get to participate in the cross-country glee-fest also known as the Idols Summer Tour. Danny is first up, and of course, he’s safe. After a fake set-up, Lil is also safe. Anoop, one of the strongest from last night, is safe. (So far so good. I’m okay with these results.) Now, it’s time for Allison and Michael to stand together. Color me shocked, because both of them are in the Bottom 3. I totally expected Allison to be safe. Wow, I didn’t see that coming at all. Of course, all day I’ve been saying that Michael would be in the Bottom 3. That was just a given. But Allison? Wow.
Instead of more results, we are “treated” to Brad Paisley singing his new single. (No offense to the Brady Paisley fans out there, but Fast-Forward.)
Okay, back to the results. Next up, is Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre, who disappointingly enough is safe. Blah. Megan Joy, our resident flu patient, is safe. (If you look at the couch, the last people to get their results are Adam and Alexis. That’s never a good sign.) Matt Giraud – safe. Kris Allen – safe. Now we’re down to Alexis Grace and Adam Lambert. Not good. I like both of them, and I thought they were sure things for the Final 5. The last person in our Bottom 3 tonight is… Alexis!!! Yay! Adam is safe! (Ahhh, all is still right with the world.) Before our Bottom 3 can get too nervous, Allison Iraheta is sent back to safety. Yay! This is good news too. (One step closer to Michael Sarver being gone.)
Before we continue with the results, it’s time to celebrate Carrie Underwood’s induction into the Grand Ole Opry as well as listen to her duet with Randy Travis. Since I do love me some Carrie Underwood, I’ll attempt to not fast-forward. (Not so sure what I think of her dress… mainly I have problems with the bow in her hair. Blaire Waldorf she is not.) Carrie and Randy will be singing “I Told You So”. As always, Carrie has a beautiful voice, but I got bored, so Fast-Forward.
Now we’re down to our Bottom 2. Alexis or Michael? Michael or Alexis? If there’s any justice in the world, it will be Michael packing his bags and hittin the bricks. After the nation-wide vote, the person leaving us tonight is… Alexis Grace? What? You’re kidding, right? On a night where Michael should have killed, he stumbled horribly, and now he gets to bore us for another week while Alexis has to “Sing for her Life”? That’s right, as Seacrest reminds us; the Judges get one Save the entire season. So based on this performance, they’ll decide whether to save Alexis or not. (No pressure there.) Alexis, my dear, good luck, and don’t eff it up. As she begins to sing, the Judges huddle right in front of her. (Not intimidating at all.) Unfortunately, the pressure is too much for Alexis, and she falters and cracks her way through “Jolene”. I can see the writing on the wall a mile away, and Simon tells us it was good, but not good enough. (Harsh!) And so, Alexis is leaving us.
Well, that’s our show for tonight. I’m happy that my 3 favorites are safe to sing another week, but I’m sad that Alexis had to go home. It should have been Michael Sarver, and I think even he knows that. Ugh. Now that we have Country Week out of the way, what will our theme for next week be? Let’s find out together. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.