I’m working on closing the sale of my house, so I didn’t get a chance to type this up until now. In any case, this week is “Songs From the Year You Were Born”. Again, only one of the idols listened to our suggestions.
Danny Gokey
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Don’t Stand So Close to me” by the Police
What He Actually Performed: “Stand By Me” by Mickey Gilley
Yet again, Danny shows that he wants to be the pop start with no edge. It’s getting rather boring.
I do like this version of “Stand By Me”, but neither of us liked the particular arrangement. The wife said he took an 80’s song and made it sound like a 70’s song. He also had serious pitch problems throughout.
Kris Allen
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Heaven” by Bryan Adams
What He Actually Performed: “All She Wants to Do is Dance” by Don Henley
What a horrible arrangement. It was boring and never seemed to go anywhere. Quite the step backwards for Kris.
Most disturbing is the fact that I actually agreed with Kara.
Lil Rounds
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “Smooth Operator” by Sade or “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood
What She Actually Performed: “What’s Love Got to Do With It” by Tina Turner
Here’s the problem: Tina Turner in the 80’s was a throwback to the 60’s, so Lil is throwing it back forty years.
She sounded nice, but she sounded very dated. Not at all current. Lil is either getting bad advice, or not listening to it, and I think she may be in trouble.
Anoop Desai
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper
What He Actually Performed: “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper
I do enjoy being correct, but what was up with the “Where’s Waldo” outfit?
His tone on this was really nice. When he started, I thought it sounded like it was pitched high for him, but he handled it and made it work. The runs he added were very well done, making the song his without overdoing it.
Best of the night, so far.
Scott MacIntyre
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen
What He Actually Performed: “The Search is Over” by Survivor
Interesting choice. At least it’s different.
Unfortunately, it was also way too big a song for him. His voice sounded nasally. The wife wonders if the studio version might sound better.
Allison Iraheta
What We Wanted Her to Perform: “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton
What She Actually Performed: “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt
Wow. What a great opening. Great song choice, too.
She’s way too young to sound that mature.
This is her best, so far, by far.
Matt Giraud
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner
What He Actually Performed: “Part Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder
This choice made me very nervous. People on American Idol tend to do Stevie Wonder very poorly, and this is not one of my favorite songs in the first place.
But, I rather liked the performance. He did a great job making it sound current.
Adam Lambert
What We Wanted Him to Perform: “Open Arms” by Journey or “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone
What He Actually Performed: “Mad World” by Tears for Fears
Ok, the DVR cut off before Adam performed. Dammit, Fox, can’t you at least manage a live television show correctly?
In any case, we had to watch the show online today, so the sound and video quality was a bit sketchy. So, my comments should probably be taken with even a bigger grain of salt than usual.
It was a nice vocal, but seemed a bit boring to me. I was hoping for something new. The judges loved it, though.
The wife doesn’t like it when he looks and dresses so normal.
This is the point at which picking the Bottom Three starts to get very tough. With so few left, any bad week could send you home.
I think the Bottom Three are most likely going to be Kris Allen, Lil Rounds and Scott MacIntyre. Vote For The Worst is backing Scott (after Megan Corkery’s departure), so that might knock him out of the sad seats. If so, flip a coin to see who joins Kris and Lil, although it won’t be Danny Gokey or Adam Lambert.
Picking the person who goes home is even tougher. DialIdol is picking Kris, and they’ve been quite accurate on the bottom ranking for several weeks now.
I’d like to see Scott got home, but Vote For The Worst won’t let that happen.
If it’s not Kris, it’ll probably be Lil. The judges might save Kris, but they won’t save Lil.