Posts Tagged Joss Stone
American Idol – Final 8 (Results Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on April 8, 2009
Good Evening, America! It’s Wednesday night, and that means it’s once again time to gather and watch as one hopeful’s dreams are crushed and left to die in front of 30 million people. Someone who has bared their soul for the entire country must now walk away without even a lifetime’s supply of Rice-a-Roni. You can almost guarantee there will be tears. Awww, it’s heartwarming when you think about it. Let the dream crushing commence. This… is American Idol!
Before we get to anything important, Ryan shows us a video of some guy from the year Simon was born. If I didn’t know better, I would think it was Frankie Avalon. (You know, of Frankie and Annette.) Whoever it is comes out to sing, and I still don’t know for sure who it is. Ahh, thank you, Ryan. It was Frankie Avalon. (Yes, I am just that good.) And this whole waste of 5 minutes was just to prove that Simon will be turning 50 soon. Thanks, Idol. There’s 5 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
For our Group Sing, the Idols are doing a song from the year American Idol was born, 2002. They’re singing “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie Minogue. (I played this cd constantly my senior year in college.) If I didn’t know better, I would think they weren’t lip-synching tonight… I wonder if I could convince the producers to just let Adam and Allison sing and have the rest do backup vocals? Oooh, Adam just flubbed some lyrics… Oh my, they are live! I’d like to think that the reason for the live performance is because of my scathing review of last week’s lip-synch. But just like how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop… the world may never know.
Apparently just watching the Ford Music Video isn’t enough. No. The producers have decided that we need a behind-the-scenes look at it as well. Is it just me, or do Adam and Allison look completely normal in their Vaudeville costumes? Everyone else… not so much. Now for the real music video to “Circus” by Britney Spears. It’s like a magic show where Ford cars disappear and reappear. What… a whirlwind. This is the type of campy stuff that I expect from these videos. It is truly camptastic, and I love it!
Time for the results. Adam Lambert-Martin, Kris Allen, and Anoop Desai are all asked to stand. My Adam is, of course, safe! (Yay!) Kris is safe, but Anoop is in the Bottom 3. I’m not shocked that Kris is safe, but Anoop had a good night last night. Maybe his inconsistency finally came back to bite him?
Before more results, we are treated to Flo Rida’s sampling of a classic 80’s song. Yes, to all those people who weren’t alive in the 80’s, he did not come up with this chorus on his own. I do love his song “Right Round” as Brady can attest, because I scream it at the top of my lungs every time it comes on when we’re in the car together.
Back to the results. Who will be next to join Anoop on the Stools of Sorrow? Danny is, not shockingly, safe. Matt Giraud is also safe, as he should be after last night’s incredible performance. Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre is blessedly the 2nd person in the Bottom 3! (I’m loving these results so far!) Allison and Lil are the last ones to hear their results, and for a change of pace, Allison is safe, and Lil, for the first time this season, is in the Bottom 3. Now that our Bottom 3 is complete with Anoop, Pity Vote, and Lil, Simon ominously says that they may choose to use the Judge’s Save on one of them.
Kelly Pickler, the darling of Season 5, has returned to American Idol to sing her latest hit for us. Her newly acquired “assets” aren’t as obvious tonight as they were last season when she had just purchased them. I kinda hate to admit it, but once I took the time to listen to the words, I actually like this song.
Here we are again. The Bottom 3: Anoop, Lil, and Scott. The person sent back to safety is… Lil! Good. I wasn’t ready for her to go yet. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for her that she needs to step up her game. After the commercial, we find out that the person with the lowest number of votes is… Scott!!! What? I thought this day would never come! Oh, the joy! Before I can get too excited, Scott has to “Sing for his Life”. Again, I think someone read my blog, because he is performing sans electric guitar and leather jacket. While Pity Votes sings away, it looks like the judges are actually deliberating on whether to save him. Until he attempted to hit that high note, that is. Or maybe not, Simon says the vote is split 50/50. (I’m on pins and needles here. They better not save him. There are more talented people still left in this competition.) Paula and Kara (earning personal scorn from me) make a case for Pity Vote to stay. Thankfully, Simon sends Scott packing. As time runs out and the credits begin to roll, Paula takes a rare Season 8 spin on “Paula’s Wheel of Random Emotion” and lands on a personal favorite of mine: Rambling Tears.
Well, that’s our show tonight. I’m sure most of you are thinking that I’m 100% excited about the results tonight. And you’d be 99.9% correct. As thoroughly happy as I am to see Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre leave the completion, reality has set in for me, and I know that I lost my #1 target for snarky comments and biased criticism this season. Fingers crossed that someone else steps up (or falls down) next week, and I have a new victim for my wrath. Let’s find out together. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.
American Idol – Final 8 (Performance Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on April 8, 2009
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.
American Idol – Final 9 (Results Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on April 1, 2009
Good Evening, America! I had thought about starting off tonight with a whole April Fool’s thing about how I was going to be nice and treat each contestant with decency and respect. But then I decided that was lame and you wouldn’t believe it anyway. Instead, I promise to be just as snarky to the contestants I don’t like and show favoritism to the one’s that I do. Don’t fix what ain’t broken, right? So, in that spirit, here we go. This… is American Idol!
Last night was definitely interesting. After coming off a huge previous week with the Motown theme, expectations were really high, and for most of the Idols, reality fell very short of that. But we won’t dwell on that. Bygones, as my good friend Richard Fish would say.
After some blah, blah, blah, we get to the Ford Music Video. This week our Idols are singing “Mixed Up” while their bodies are cut into three segments and mixed up, ala the opening theme of “Ugly Betty”. It’s incredibly creepy, which means I absolutely LOVE IT! This is the utter nonsense I’ve been waiting for. Thank you for finally delivering!
While we’re at, let’s do the Group Sing. This week, our Top 9 are lip-synching to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. Now that I know they’re faking it, I love watching how their mouths don’t completely match up with the words… or when their mouth is NOWHERE NEAR the microphone. (That bit of brilliance from Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre earned a large guffaw… and several rewinds.) This little insight has turned the Group Sing from something to endure to one of my highlights of the results show. Ahhh, good times.
There’s some filler-ific stuff, but it bores me, so I won’t bore you with it. Now it’s time for the results, and if anyone has remembered from previous seasons, this is when Ryan splits everyone into 3 groups of 3. One is usually the top, one is just safe, and the other is the Bottom 3. Let’s see what happens. Megan, Matt, and Kris (Group 1) are asked to move to the far side of the stage. Adam Lambert-Martin, Lil, and Allison (Group 2) are sent to the center of the stage. That leaves Scott, Danny, and Anoop (Group 3) on the near side of the stage. Now, with the way this is set up, I can’t see any one group being in the Bottom 3. It’s more like one person from each group would make up the Bottom 3. If that’s the case, I’m going to go with Megan, Allison, and Anoop being the Bottom 3…. though I’d really prefer for it to be Scott instead of Anoop.
Before we can get back to the results and see what shenanigans Seacrest is up to, David Cook, our reigning American Idol is here to sing his new song “Come Back to Me”. Nice to see that his Cougar… I mean his mom is in the audience. Just like old times. And it looks like David has sold 1 million copies of his first album. That’s great for him, but I still hate his hair. Just like old times.
Back to the results. We start with Group 1. Kris is safe. After some Seacrest trickery, Matt is also safe. (Oh, that Seacrest. Such a kidder.) That leaves us with Milkmaid Megan, who is… the first person in our Bottom 3. (That means it will be one from each group.) What the heck was up with her bird walk over to the stool? That went beyond quirky to just plain weird. Now to Group 2. Lil is safe. Allison, unfortunately, joins Megan in the Bottom 3. Down to Adam Lambert-Martin, who thankfully is SAFE! (Happy Dance!) Finally to Group 3. Danny is safe. That leaves us with either Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre or Anoop Desai as the last member of the Bottom 3. I’m hoping for Scott, but I have a feeling that it’s Anoop. And it is… Anoop. (Bah!) That means our Bottom 3 consists of Megan, Allison, and Anoop. (Please let Allison be safe!)
Time for a musical interlude courtesy of Lady Gaga and her smash hit “Poker Face”! She starts off like a young Phyllis Diller but dressed as an extra from “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Then she kicks into the fabulous dance version that has taken America by storm. Now, some of you may be wondering, “Who the eff is Lady Gaga?” If you love good dance music, then I suggest heading over to our good friend iTunes and downloading her cd “The Fame”. It’s a good time.
Back to our Bottom 3: Allison, Anoop, and Megan. Thankfully, Allison is sent back to safety. (Phew!) Between Megan and Anoop, Anoop is safe, and Megan is “Singing for Her Life”. Before I can even type the words on the page that the Judges won’t even consider using their save on her, Simon, however callously, says it for me. That means Megan will just be singing us out tonight. I’m sorry Megan; the tribe has spoken. It’s time for you to go.
Well, that’s our show tonight. And with all due respect to the Megan fans out there (I’m looking at you Miss Margie), it was time for her to go. I enjoyed her, and I’ll miss her. Next week, our Idols will be singing “Year You Were Born” songs. Since all of these kids are younger than me that means next Tuesday I may be getting some of the 80’s music I’ve been whining to hear. Fingers crossed! Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.
American Idol – Final 9 (Performance Show)
Posted by S. J. in American Idol, Season 8 on March 31, 2009
Good Evening America! Here we are. Back again for another week of performances. After last week’s not-shocking-at-all elimination of Michael Sarver, I’m ready to see what our contestants do this week. We’re one step closer to the finale and one step closer to getting rid of Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre. (He was in the Bottom 3 last week. Good job America! Keep up the good work!) So, without further rambling (in this paragraph anyway), on with the show. This… is American Idol!
Tonight, our Idols can sing any song they want, as long as it’s a popular download on iTunes. Hmmm, can you be any more vague? This theme isn’t truly shocking at all, because if we’ve learned anything from American Idol, it’s that this show is best enjoyed while downloading songs from iTunes and drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola.
Anoop Desai is our first Idol of the evening, and he’ll be singing “Caught Up” by Usher. I applaud his choice for going to back to something with high energy, but there isn’t a ton of range in this song, and he doesn’t really get the chance to showcase his vocal skills. I’m a big fan of this song, just not him singing it. There are points where it seems like he’s getting it, but then he goes back to looking lost. Uh-oh.
Megan Joy is second, and she’s singing “Turn Your Lights Down Low” by Lauren Hill/Bob Marley. I truly hoped she would do some Amy Winehouse or Duffy tonight. Now, I don’t think Megan is going to win this thing, but I do find her enjoyable and quirky, and I am rooting for her. There’s nothing wrong with her performance, but, unfortunately, there isn’t anything spectacular about it either. For me, it’s easily forgettable.
Danny Gokey is third, and he’s singing “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flats. I love this song, and Danny’s taking it easy and low-key at the beginning, building into the chorus where he can go to powerful and emotional. Very nice. This was definitely one of his best performances of the season, and this is exactly the type of music he should do.
Allison Iraheta is next with “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt. Love, love, LOVE the song choice, though I must say I’m not likin’ the outfit, but something about adding the guitar to the ensemble makes it all begin to grow on me. The first verse is subdued, but in true Allison fashion she supports her vocals amazingly well. During the chorus, however, she started to shout the song. It wasn’t bad, it was good, but it wasn’t the brilliance we’ve come to expect from Allison.
Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre is 5th tonight with “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel. My brother seems to think that Pity Vote looks like Paul Walker tonight. He must be referring to a different Paul Walker, because Barry, not even on Paul Walker’s worst day. No. Just no. Back to the song, and I have to say… of all the Billy Joel songs, he pick’s this one? First of all, I’m shocked that this is even considered a “popular download” on iTunes. Second, he says that he’s “stripped things down” a little, which should be a nice change from the wacky, upbeat stuff he’s done so far… What’s that? This sounds like all his other performances? Yeah, I thought so too. Oh, and I hate his hair tonight.
Matt Giraud is singing “You Found Me” by The Fray. The start of the song was a bit shaky, but the raw growl to his voice I do like. This was not a great performance for him. Instead of trying to sound like himself, he tries to sound like the original singer, and it comes off uncomfortable and just ugh. People may say that the judges were too harsh, but as much as I like Matt, I think they were spot on.
Lil Rounds is next, and she’s singing “I Surrender” by Celine Dion. If someone had had me make a list of 10 singers I thought she might choose from tonight, Celine would not have been on that list. You know the judges aren’t going to like this… no matter how well she sings. And of course, she does sing well… extraordinarily well, as always. Lil did get to show us the vocal powerhouse that she is, but I would have liked to have seen that in a different song… one with a personality.
Adam Lambert-Martin is up next with “Play that Funky Music” by Wild Cherry. Every week, I anxiously wait to see what he’s going to pick and how he’s going to change the song. Tonight is no different, and Mr. Lambert-Martin did not disappoint. I love how Adam’s slowing down on the verse just to kick into gear for the chorus. This is fun, and we definitely needed some fun tonight. And Kara, just for future reference, it’s “Studio 54” not “Studio 57”.
Kris Allen is closing the show with “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. I enjoy that he’s left the guitar at home and is using the keyboard. I love this song, and I’m loving his version of it. This is an amazing arrangement. It truly shows off the emotion of the song and sets him up as a real contender for the Top 5. Well done.
Well, that’s our show for tonight. And what an “interesting” night it’s been. Our Top 3 tonight would have to be Adam Lambert-Martin, Danny Gokey, and Kris Allen. Residing in the Bottom 3 would be Scott “Pity Vote” MacIntyre, Megan Joy, and a toss-up between Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai. Though I love her, I won’t be shocked if Allison Iraheta makes a cameo in the Bottom 3 this week. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Same Steve Time. Same Steve Channel.