American Idol Top Ten Performances (Motown)

It was Motown Week for American Idol, with mentors Smokey Robinson and Barry Gordy. It didn’t seem that Gordy did much except show them around Motown Records, however.

One big change this week is that the backup singers were down on the stage next to the performer. The backup singers have been a weak point all season long, and this seemed to help a lot.

On to the performances.

Matt Giraud
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett
What He Actually Performed: “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye

Why do people pick Marvin’s songs? Nobody sounds good on them but Marvin.

But I was wrong. Matt is really doing Marvin justice.

Loved his falsetto, but the dancing wasn’t all that great. The riff at the end was phenomenal.

Do I agree he’s a front-runner? Not sure yet, but he’s carving a niche for himself.

Kris Allen
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “You Are the Sunshine of my Life” by Stevie Wonder
What He Actually Performed: “How Sweet It Is” by Marvin Gaye

Another Marvin song? What are these people thinking?

Apparently, they’re thinking clearly as this was another solid performance. Good vocal and quite entertaining.

Not sure about the weird thing he does with his mouth sometime, and I didn’t love the last note, but pretty good overall.

Scott MacIntyre
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “I Can’t Get Next to You” by The Temptations
What He Actually Performed: “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes

Last week, the judges told Scott to take a risk. How milquetoast must you be, if taking a risk means doing a song that David Archuleta did last year?

The wife wonders why he keeps doing songs from female performers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The performance was pitchy, very nasally, and he screamed parts of it. Just a train wreck.

Simon’s comments notwithstanding, I thought the piano playing was quite good, but he’s just not a great singer.

Scott is in real trouble this week.

Megan Corkrey
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “Where Did Our Love Go?” by The Supremes
What She Actually Performed: “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder

I’ve tried to defend Megan. She’s quirky, her dancing is annoying, but I really like her voice and style.

But after tonight, I’m done.

This performance was worse than last week’s when she was on her death bed. She had no rhythm and sounded like a lounge singer screaming because someone was sticking bamboo under her finger nails.

And I was wishing I had the bamboo so I could poke out my eardrums.

Vote For The Worst is pushing for Megan, so she may be safe for a few more weeks, but I can only hope it ends soon.

Anoop Desai
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Super Freak” by Rick James
What He Actually Performed: “Ooh Baby Baby” by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles

What’s up with the Members Only jacket? What is he, like, the last member?

Nice vocal. He’s working hard to show that he can actually sing. The wife liked it even more than I did. He projected great emotion with the song.

Michael Sarver
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations
What He Actually Performed: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations

Hey, we got one right! Maybe Sarver reads the blog! Or maybe we just got lucky.

Or maybe we weren’t right. While it’s a better performance was better than the last few weeks, it wasn’t great.

Thought the feedback from the judges was a bit harsh, but then I haven’t liked him as much as they did in the last few weeks. Couldn’t specifically disagree with anything they said.

Lil Rounds
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner or “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston
What She Actually Performed: “Heatwave” by Martha and the Vandellas

While there was nothing at all current about the performance, I really liked it. A lot.

The wife didn’t like her hair and thought parts of the song might have been to low for her.

Adam Lambert
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
What He Actually Performed: “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson

One of the things you watch for on American Idol is for a performer to have what Simon calls “a moment”. We hadn’t had one this season until tonight.

Adam’s performance of “Tracks of My Tears” was easily the best thing we’ve heard all season. He could release this as a single today.

The wife thinks he looks like Elvis. I’m not so sure about the outfit (Ritchie Valens came to mind for me), but I really like the performance.

Adam is now clearly the front runner to win it all.

Danny Gokey
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding
What He Actually Performed: “Get Ready” by The Temptations

This is a case where he really should have listened to us. He would have been much better off.

It was an ok performance, but nothing special. He sounds just like he always does.

Here’s Danny’s problem: he’s not progressing in any way. He reminds me of Melinda Dolittle from a couple of seasons ago. Every performance is solid, but they’re never truly great.

I beginning to thing that Danny goes home fourth or fifth.

Allison Iraheta
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “Respect” by Aretha Franklin or “No Where to Run” by Martha Reeves
What She Actually Performed: “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations

This girl can really sing. There were parts that were a bit rough, but I think Allison is becoming my second favorite.

The wife doesn’t love the song, but really liked her performance of it.

So, a number of solid performances, one great one, one mediocre one, and two bad ones.

The bottom three will be Scott MacIntyre, Megan Corkrey, and Michael Sarver. It should be Megan going home, but Vote For The Worst will probably save her. Say goodbye to Scott or Michael.