Tuesday, March 31, 2009

American Idol - Top 9 Performance Show

The theme this week is Top iTunes Downloads. Since they can pretty much choose anything they want, no one can rely on not having a good song to choose from. Unfortunately, the Idols often crash and burn on weeks like this.

Ryan takes the Idols to the American Top 40 studio. Blatantly plug yourself much, Seacrest?

Anoop Desai - "Caught Up" Usher
Background singers started out in front of him. That was kind of cool. And I'm not sure he should be brushing off his shoulders. Or dancing. Again, I have the disconnect between how nerdy how looks and that he has a good voice. And Usher sings this song and performs it well because he can DANCE. Anoop just keeps scowling at the camera and trying to look tough. Not working for me. Thanks, Randy for agreeing with me. Kara is right on the money too. Making a song your own has been of HUGE importance in the last couple seasons. Simon was perhaps a little harsh, but also correct.

Megan Joy - "Turn Your Lights Down Low" Bob Marley/Lauryn Hill
I am SO bored right now. I thought Anoop was boring too, but at least he was moving around a little. I think this song suits her voice, but it's so BORING. I don't even have any thing else to say, I'm so bored. Kara's right - she absolutely should have done that Adele song or something like it. Paula is wrong though. That would make it even more boring. Thank you Simon - it was indulgent. She was singing the song for herself, not the audience. Randy was spot on - "You can love a song, but that doesn't mean you're going to sing it great."

Danny Gokey - "What Hurts the Most" Rascal Flatts
This is probably a great choice for him. He's oversinging a bit, but it's compelling to watch at least. I thought at first he was going to be a bit boring, but he got into it. Given the situation with his wife recently passing away, I can't believe he can sing those lyrics at all. I would probably lose it on the chorus. He really did a great job. "Find a great song, sing it brilliantly and do your own version." Thanks for boiling it down, Simon. The judges loved it, I loved it, everybody loved it. 1-866-IDOLS-03

Allison Iraheta - "Don't Speak" No Doubt
Allison is playing the guitar! Again, this should be a great choice for her. It was a pretty good performance. I wish she had kept playing the guitar a little longer. The outfit is ummm....not good. Maybe the hair or the dress or the shoes, but not all three. Good feedback, Randy & Kara. Especially what Kara said - she doesn't need to dress up like a rock star. She is a rock star. Paula - you are not allowed to call a guitar an "ax." Only guitarists and/or actual musicians get to use that word. Thank you.

(Aside - I feel bad when Scott has to smile and wave at the camera. I almost can't watch. Anyone else? Is it just me that gets enormously uncomfortable?)

Scott MacIntyre - "Just the Way You Are" Billy Joel
That was a good song for him. I didn't love all the things he did with the melody. And I'm not sure I love the hair. I wish they would borrow his brother's hair style. Paula - also, don't say legato if you aren't going to use it correctly in a sentence. He did a good job, and I'm glad the judges were a little more kind this week. (Another aside - I also get uncomfortable when they show Scott's family and his family is looking at Scott, but his sister is looking at the stage and not quite at Scott. Again, am I the only one noticing this? I feel bad that I even notice...)

Matt Giraud - "You Found Me" The Fray
Matt is playing keyboard in the middle of the rhythm-challenged mosh pit of girls. I hope he doesn't look down - there's a girl right in front of him that can't find the two and four and isn't clapping at the right times. Why do they allow those people to be so close to the stage!? I don't know this song and I'm not sure if I love it. I don't think Paula is right - it wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Coldplay song. But Simon is also right - pick a good song and sing it. If he'd chosen a good, more recognizable song in that same genre it would have worked better. "Apologize" would have been an awesome choice.

Lil Rounds - "I Surrender" Celine Dion
I'm nervous about this one. I'm always nervous when someone sings Celine. I'm a little nervous about her pitch in the first half. She's not...quite...there. She fixed it from the bridge on. She sang it well, but I didn't love this song for her. She sang it pretty well, but Randy's right - it did feel a little older. No more Adult Contemporary for Lil. Please. Watching Randy hug Lil's daughter is about the cutest thing ever. No wonder she's crying. CUTE!

Adam Lambert - "Play That Funky Music" Wild Cherry
I LOVE the backbeat on this arrangement. I made Diggity come down and watch it because it's cool. That was so fun. He was screaming a little much for me, but it was great. Adam - good call giving props to the band, because that did make the performance. And brilliant to back this up to what he did last week. 1-866-IDOLS-08

Kris Allen - "Ain't No Sunshine" Bill Withers
They give Kris the pimp spot. I'm kind of surprised. Playing keyboard with strings on stage. Nice. This kid is crazy talented. And he's cute. That was outstanding. Totally deserving of the pimp spot. 1-866-IDOLS-09

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In Summary -
Hated It: Anoop Desai, Megan Joy
Meh: Matt Giraud, Scott MacIntyre, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds
LOVED IT: Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Adam Lambert

Bold Predictions -
Bottom 3: Scott MacIntyre, Megan Joy*, Anoop Desai
Going Home: Scott MacIntyre

*She may not be in the bottom three based on VFTW support.

9 comments:

Emily said...

Anoop makes me uncomfortable. He just doesn't look right, as for the uncomforable MacIntyre family moments, I notice them now, but that may be from watching it with you. I got a good giggle thinking of you being uncomfortable though, so thanks. (sorry, long comment)

Kate said...

I love reading your comments. They crack me up. I totally agree with you tonight. Although, when you close your eyes while he's singing, do you ever picture Adam as a black woman? I, too, get sick of his high note when he does it 30 times in one song.

Kate said...

By the way, Kate, above, is Katie Sundberg. I thought you may not know that I stalk your blog. Love it.

Diana said...

You are so funny. Even though I watch it I still love to come and read your blog. I like Anoop I wish he would choose better songs because I do not want him to go home yet. I am hoping for Megan she is killing me!!!

Molly said...

I guess I need to watch AI to see if I agree with you on the blind kid stuff. However, I can guarantee that you are WAY more uncomfortable than he is.

It's that same way with Alice. She's deaf. It's just the way it is. We are fine with it, she's used to it because she knows no other way, and neither do we. I find that once people find out she's deaf they start acting weird. They're trying not to offend us...I guess. It's kind of hard to explain, but when there is a disability involved people feel bad/weird/embarrassed and they don't know what to do. They always end up acting/feeling weird, but there's no reason to.

So I guess to sum up. Don't feel bad/weird for the kid. He's blind. He's used to it. He's lived with it his whole life. It's not weird for him, so there's no reason to let it be weird for you.

The End.

Molly said...

I hope that didn't sound like a lecture, because I didn't mean it that way.

Macy said...

Emily - Glad I could make you laugh. :)
Katie - So glad you are stalking! Thanks for the comment!
Diana - I'm glad you watch and read. And thanks for keeping me on track last week.
Molly - It didn't seem like a lecture. It was interesting to hear your thoughts on the matter. To clarify, I'm not uncomfortable with him being blind. Quite the contrary - he's very cool about it and interacts with everyone quite confidently when he is on the stage. If he needs to move somewhere, he asks for help. He checks to make sure he is facing the right direction. He's great. I guess it's the cheesy stuff that all the contestants do just doesn't look right when he does it. Like it's beneath him. But he's working so hard to do all the things they want him to do.

Stacie said...

I'm FINALLY watching this show (as of last week). I only liked the last two performances! And I really liked them. Interesting, they were the two I liked last week, too. I actually fast forwarded through a bunch of the rest of them. I had no patience for it!

And I'm so glad you called out Paula's "legato" usage, my eyebrows totally went up at that. And "You Found Me" is a great song. I love it. Didn't love Matt's performance of it. :(

Stacie said...

P.S. By no patience for it, I meant the bad singing. Geez, I had my own bad usage there. Sorry.

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