American Idol went to the movies tonight, with mentoring from Quentin Tarantino. This had the potential to be either really good or really bad.
With last week’s time overrun snafu, they only allowed two judges to comment after each performance. If they had allowed all four to comment, but limited them to salient points only, it would have been much more effective in controlling the clock.
Allison Iraheta
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from “Armageddon”, “Streets of Philadelphia” from Philadelphia, or “Colorblind” from “Cruel Intentions”
What She Performed: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from “Armageddon”
Yes, we suggested it, but it was the most obvious of the choices for her. She had a solid, but not outstanding performance. The shortened live version had a really strange bridge, so I may like the live version more.
The wife thought it was pitched a bit too low for her.
Anoop Desai
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Layla” from “Goodfellas”
What He Performed: “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” from “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”
I just want to go on the record that I don’t really like this song. I thought Anoop did a great job of it though. The wife pointed out that he’s feeling the music much more than usual.
This is probably his best vocal ever. Who would of thought he could be a crooner?
Noop Dawg is starting to grow on me. He seems to be finding his stride. I’m just not sure the votes are there for him, though.
Adam Lambert
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Who Wants to Live Forever” from “The Highlander” or “Under Pressure” from “Grosse Pointe Blank”
What He Performed: “Born to Be Wild” from “Easy Rider”
Cool start to the song. Damn, he’s good. He could release this today, the wife says.
This performance is totally over the top, but it works.
Matt Giraud
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “If You Were Here” from “Sixteen Candles”
What He Performed: “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” from “Don Juan DeMarco”
Good performance, but “good” might not be good enough tonight. Tough draw to go right after Adam, but his performances just don’t wow anyone.
Danny Gokey
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “In Your Eyes” from “Say Anything” or “Try a Little Tenderness” from “The Commitments”
What He Performed: “Endless Love” from “The Blue Lagoon”
His best vocal in a few weeks. And a better connection to the song than we’ve seen from him in a while.
Not very modern, however. And he continues to be a bit boring.
Kris Allen
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Tiny Dancer” from “Almost Famous”
What He Performed: “Falling Slowly” from “Once”
Can’t say I know this song, but what a great start to the performance.
He took a rather repetitive song and made it interesting. The wife commented that the song seemed like it was over in fifteen seconds, she enjoyed it so much.
Lil Rounds
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “I Will Always Love You” from “The Bodyguard” or “Son of a Preacher Man” from “Pulp Fiction”
What She Performed: “The Rose” from “The Rose”
Ok, this is a decent song choice, with an arrangement that makes it sound modern. I flatly disagree with Simon about the song choice. Yes, it’s a song that’s been sung a million times in karaoke bars around the country, but that’s because it’s a great song.
The performance, however, was not so good. It was pitchy throughout. Some much so that it was hard to listen too at times.
So, we’re getting to the point where decent to good performances make it into the Bottom Three. The weakest of the night were Lil, Matt, and Allison, although I liked Allison’s performance, and thought Matt’s was ok.
They will likely be your Bottom Three, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Anoop join them. He was Bottom Two last week on another solid performance. Hopefully, this week’s performance will propel him to safety.
And I like Allison’s performance, but she’s just not quite put it all together to be great. In a couple of years, she’ll be signed and famous, I expect. She’s not going to win American Idol Season Eight, however.
Tax Day Update: DialIdol.com, which predicts placement by monitoring ring tones, had an interesting ordering this morning:
- Danny Gokey
- Lil Rounds
- Adam Lambert
- Anoop Desai
- Allison Iraheta
- Matt Giraud
- Kris Allen
Could Vote For The Worst really be powerful enough to push Lil all the way to second? I’m skeptical about that.
Seeing Kris at the bottom is a bit worrisome. They’ve been rather accurate with that spot, although they missed it last week. I think the judges would likely use their save on Kris, if it came to that.
I’m underwhelmed by both Lil and Matt, and would be neither surprised nor disappointed to see either one go home.