Top 7: Performance Results

Welcome back all you junkies. “Songs from Cinema” week turned out to be surprisingly good! This might have been one of the best weeks that we’ve had in a long time. No one was terrible and there were a few great performances. The competition is getting pretty stiff right now, with 7 contestants that deserve to be there. This is my first nil week since I’ve started the blog, but I sort of expected that. When you are given a theme as broad as “Songs from Cinema,” you literally have thousands upon thousands of songs that can be used. Overall, I thought the singers picked good songs for themselves. How did they SING those songs, however, is the question. Let’s see how they did.

Allison Iraheta - Aerosmith "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" (Armageddon)

I like Allison as much as the judges do, but I honestly didn’t hear what they were hearing. They were praising her way more than they should have. The intro was too subdued for too long. She should have taken a listen to David Cooks version and done the strings in a similar fashion so that the song wouldn’t lose energy from the get-go. The tessitura sat just a smidge too low for her, so the verses came out very muffled with no power or support. And the tone that I love from her simply wasn’t there for most of the song. She didn’t completely botch the song by any means, but she didn’t do herself any favors by doing this choice. It was mediocre for the standards she has set for herself. Mediocre performances are the ones you have to worry about, because fans vote in droves for great performances or awful performances where they are trying to save their Idol. If trends continue like they have, as a seemingly bi-weekly choice for the bottom 3, Allison has to be a little worried this week.

Anoop Desai - Bryan Adams "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)

This song was a very good choice for Anoop, surprisingly. When I heard he chose this, I immediately thought disaster. But he worked it! Vocally, this was Anoop’s best performance yet. I was listening very hard, and if there were missed notes, I missed them. I think the soul that he added to the song fit it extremely well and he made it pretty current. Some passion was thrown in there too to top it all off. The only critique I have for him is to STOP WEARING COATS! It’s crazy that every night, he has on some different type of outerwear that he must have gotten at the “God-Awful, Ridiculously Ugly Jacket Store.” It makes you get nasty lip sweat, Anoop. Ditch the coats, you are in LA. All that being said, I’m not sure if it was quite the performance to save him from the bottom 3. He’s been there so often, that one has to assume that his fan base is just not large enough to pull him much further.

Adam Lambert – Steppenwolf “Born To Be Wild” (Easy Rider)

So, apparently people are thinking that I am too pro-Adam on this blog. It’s true, he’s the guy I’m pulling for, but I remain objectively critical on his performances. I point out places where he falters, and places where he shines, he just does more of the latter. The reason it sounds like I’m putting him on such a high pedestal compared to everyone else is simple- he IS on a higher pedestal. He is in a different league than the others. He’s consistent every week, to the point where you don’t even remember less than perfect notes. Even if I absolutely detested the guy, I couldn’t deny that his talent is greater than any of the other contestants and his ability to perform is something Idol has never seen. Did you see how he worked the stage last night?! You have to admit that it was entertaining. I still hold strong that I would have rather heard him sing “Eye of the Tiger,” but this performance allowed him to let out his inner divo that has been pushed aside the last two weeks. The chorus was a little shaky, due to the intense head banging from Adam, the band, and the backup singers, but other than that it was solid. I won’t go into how baller the end was.

Matt Giraud – Bryan Adams “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman” (Don Juan DeMarco)

Hmmmm. The comment that Simon gave Anoop last week about being a “Yo-Yo” performer can be aptly applied to Matt as well. He had a great week with “Part-Time Lover,” but then went to this song and I’m not sure why. He was pitchy the entire song, he had a TERRIBLE break in his voice, the bridge was horrendous, and his falsetto was just not clicking with him tonight (but I’ve always that it was suspect anyway). It’s a great song, but he had to sing it like Daughtry did. And he didn’t. I flip-flop with how I view Matt, and I feel like the majority of America does as well. You can tell that he does not know how to take negative (but constructive) criticism by his facial expressions, and after his near-tear-fest last night, I think he is worried that he is going to be in the bottom 3. I think he’s right.

Danny Gokey – Lionel Richie “Endless Love” (Endless Love)

The bullet proof armor that Danny once donned seems to be cracking, even if it is only slightly. Tonight was one of the first times that I can recall one of the judges actually critiquing him, not just patting him on the back on a job well done. The arrangement was not as good as it could have been. The harp was cool, but I don’t think it complemented his voice at all. When you have a rich, soulful voice, a harp is not really the instrument to pair it with. He was much pitchier than usual on the second half of the first verse, which surprised me. He got back on track and delivered the great vocals that we’ve heard from him, that is, until the falsetto note at the end. He also, for the second time, chose to ignore the advice of the mentor to not use his hands. It was pretty distracting, but I know once you get in the moment, old habits tend to resurface without you being able to control it. So I’m not faulting him too much here. For any of the other contestants, these little blips might not be as evident, but when a front-runner stumbles, people take notice. It’s definitely nothing to be worried about, but he might want to fix that crack real soon if he wants to make it to the finals. Because there is another contestant on his heels…

Kris Allen – Glen Hansard “Falling Slowly” (Once)

…and it’s Kris Allen. To me, this was borderline the best I’ve heard from Kris. The beginning was not as great as it could have been, since he didn’t support his low notes with his diaphragm, but it was still good because it set the emotion. It is a beautiful song that allowed him to just go out there and sing- no distractions to take away from his voice. The chorus was great, his tone was very nice, and he showed Matt how falsetto should be sung. After listening to the original, however, I wish that he would have sung the major seventh on the word “time.” He went the easier route, but to most people, it wasn’t an obvious change. I think this was the best performance of the night, not because it was the best vocally (because it wasn’t), but because of the heartfelt passion that he poured into it.

Lil Rounds – Bette Middler “The Rose” (The Rose)

Was this the right song for Lil to sing? No. Did she do better than previous weeks? Unquestionably. Lil seriously has an issue with song selection. I don’t know how many times the judges can beat her over the head until she realizes that she needs to stop singing dumb mess. There were a few issues I had with this performance. I did not like the straight-laced beginning. We all know Lil doesn’t sing like that, so why is she trying to now? The switch to the Gospel feel was ABRUPT! It felt like there was no crescendo or transition at all. I liked how she sang the Gospel section and wish that she would have sung the entire song like that. Pitch was still a concern for her (as always) but not to the extent that it has been in the past. I’ve noticed something lately. Her vibrato settles in a funny place within the note. It makes the note sound sharp, though it’s in pitch. I’m not even sure if that makes sense, but that’s what I heard. I’m not sure where to place Lil in the pack right now. It should be interesting tonight.

That was an entertaining show. My top picks for tonight are Kris and Adam. No one else met the mark that they did. Danny is obviously safe, but who of the remaining 4 should be placed in the bottom 3? I’m going to say that the bottom three will be Matt, Allison, and Anoop. I wanted to put Lil in the bottom three, because I believe she deserves it moreso than Allison, but I think with her being safe for so long up to this point, and her beating Anoop in votes last week, she has a broader fan base than I initially thought and they will be pulling for her by voting a ton. The other three have all seen the bottom 3 before, with Allison being the only one to have not seen the bottom 2. I think it comes down to Matt and Anoop, with Matt receiving the lowest number of votes. I think the judges like him enough that they will implement the Judges Save. Honestly, I think no matter who goes, they will use it this week, so look forward to a crazy episode next week!

On a side note, I still find it amazing how they managed to cut one performer and half of the judges’ comments from last week and STILL ran over! These producers need to get on the ball.

Your American Idol Junkie,

Billy