AMERICAN IDOL Top 3 Perfromances

Driving home from work tonight it hit me.  Next week is the season finale of AMERICAN IDOL.  A week from tomorrow we will know who this year’s AMERICAN IDOL will be. Ok, we probably know it already, but next week it will be legit.  I can’t stand it. I’m not ready for IDOL to be over.  Thank goodness Fox is launching SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE next week (yes next week!!!) or else I might be truly freaking out.

But to get to the finale we first have to say goodbye to one IDOL wannabe.  The three guys remaining: Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert will both be performing two songs tonight.  One chosen by the judges, and one they chose themselves. Personal song choice is critical tonight. I hope they choose wisely. (And I secretly hope Adam chooses to sing “Dream On” by Aerosmith, for very obvious reasons).

Danny Gokey
“Dance Little Sister” by Terrance Trent D’Arby (Paula’s Pick)
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I could be wrong about this one, but I think The Gokey wants all of the little sisters to dance.  Just a guess. I kind of wish I had a Gokey fan sitting with me right now, because I think I am way past the point of being able to judge his performance without bias. Listen, he has a large fan base.  That’s obvious.  He’s just not the type of artist I enjoy. I thought the performance was ok, but I think (a) he shouted 95% of it and (b) it sounded like every other Danny Gokey performance. There’s no subtly to his performances.  At this point Danny just needs to show up. The producers want him in the bottom two for reasons that defy me, so he’ll be there.

Judges: Randy thought it was dope. Kara didn’t like the dancing (gasp!) and thought the performance wasn’t that memorable.  Paula called her out and said that she is a choreographer and she thought the dancing was great.  Simon thought the vocals were very, very good, but thought he would do better with another song.

[GLEE sneak preview a week from tonight! Set the DVRs right now.]

Kris Allen
“Apologize” by One Republic
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While I thought he performed it well enough, I can’t say that was my favorite song by Kris. There were some interesting melodic choices that paid off, but I didn’t love his falsetto all that much.  Kris needed to be 100% flawless tonight in order to keep the judges at bay.  I don’t think he was.

Judges: Randy thought is was very nice. Kara thought it was competent but she didn’t think he hit it out of the park. Paula didn’t love it, but she tried to be complimentary. Simon said that Kris that Kris was competent but he didn’t perform it better than the original.  But he did call Kara out on criticizing Kris as she was the one that picked the song.

There was also a lot of nonsense about the arrangement.  Simon seemed to imply that he worked with Adam on the arrangement of the song he chose for him.  He told Randy and Kara that they didn’t put in the effort and if they wanted a different arrangement they should have worked with Kris on it.  Then Randy piped in saying they weren’t allowed to do that, and Simon agreed.  So which is it?  The judges were allowed to work with the contestants and/or with the arrangements of they weren’t?!

Listen I know that Randy, Kara, Paula and Simon don’t read this site, but if they ever did I would beg the to remember that the show is not about THEM! Stop with the childish antics at the judges table.  The show goes over every week and it’s not because the contestants are singing too much.  It’s because the judges have egos the size of the Nokia Theater and they have to act like five year olds.  Every single one of them. So annoying.

Adam Lambert
“One” by U2
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Once again, Adam gets the pimp spot. Simon said they had to get special clearance in order for Adam to sing the song.  Dude, it’s not like this is the first time this song has been performed on the IDOL stage.  Elliot Yamin and Mary J. Blige sang it a few seasons back. Simon just wanted to brag that he personally knows Bono. [See above paragraph.]

The song started off beautifully.  Simply stunning.  Then the tempo picked up and Adam went on to full on scream mode.  I liked the Adam scream…in moderation.  That was just way too much for me.  Had he stuck with the slower version he would have killed it.  Just ok for me, Dawg.  You have no worries for next week, my friend.

Judges: Randy wasn’t a fan of the screaming part either but he had a hard time saying that since it wasn’t in his script.  Kara thought the arrangement was unbelievable.  Paula said it was brilliant and she called him the American Idol. Simon thought it was a brilliant song choice.  He said it Adam wasn’t in the finale last week it would be the biggest upset in the history of the show.

[ROUND 2]

Danny Gokey
“You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker
WOW! Restrained and beautiful. A gorgeous arrangement. This might be my favorite performance by The Gokey ever. See, I’m not just a hater. I can recognize when there’s a solid performance, and Danny just had a great moment on that stage.

Judges: Randy said Danny could really sing.  Um, get this man some new material. I beg of you.  Kara said that everything Danny didn’t do in the first performance, he just did. Kara called it stunning.  Paula loved it and said it was a beautiful performance. Simon loved the song but didn’t love the arrangement. But he did say it was a vocal masterclass.  Hmm. Ok.

Kris Allen
“Heartless” by Kanye West
Ok, I didn’t see that coming.  Kris knows he’s the underdog going into next week and what he had to do with this song is shock and awe.  He doesn’t have the big vocals like the other two guys.  What he does have is impeccable musicality.  He took a hip hop inspired rap tune and turned it into an acoustic, melodic piece.  I thought it was a big huge risk and exactly what Kris Allen had to do tonight.

Judges: Randy loved it and thought it was better than the original. Kara thought it was bold, brave and fearless!  Paula thought he was completely different and relevant. Simon said he had written Kris out after his first performance but that all changed after this performance!

GO Kris!!!

Adam Lambert
“Crying” by Aerosmith
Sweet Crow! When Adam said he was doing Aerosmith my heart stopped for just a beat.  Could my wishes be coming true? Could he be going after The Gokey and performing “Dream On”.  Sadly no. But wouldn’t that have been awesome? I thought Adam performed the bejeezus out of this song but it was almost ruined by the horrendous backup singers.  What was that? Adam doesn’t need any help. Again, not my favorite performance of his, but come on his level of talent is off the hook. (Did I just say ‘off the hook’? Yikes.)

Judges: Randy said Adam was one of the best they’ve ever had on the IDOL stage.  Kara said she’ll see him at the finals. Paula babbled something about frequent flier miles.  Simon took a minute to remind everyone at home not to assume that Adam is going to get through next week, and so they need to vote for him because he deserves to be there based on his talent.

So that’s that.  I watched IDOL a little late tonight so I could fast forward through the commercials.  But what happened instead was that I used the full commercial break to vote for Kris Allen.  I will get in a few votes for Adam, I promise, but right now Kris needs me.  He’s out there somewhere and he needs me.  Ha!

Best of luck to Danny, Adam and Kris. I’m sure there’s not going to be much sleeping tonight.

Your favorite moments of the night?

(P.S. I might be a little harsh on Danny, but it’s all in good fun.  I want Danny, Kris and Adam fans to be able to share their thoughts without being attacked.  It’s a music competition show…let’s keep it all in perspective.)