American Idol 8 / Finals 2
Ah, top 11. What exciting theme will you be singing this week?
We start off with Seacrest menacingly stalking behind the contestants. Then the opening, then the judges emerge once again from upstage center, followed by Seacrest coming down the huge stairs.
He wishes us all a happy St. Patrick’s Day, and the stage goes all green and covered with shamrocks. We move on to Seacrest questioning the judges, and Randy lets us know that it’s COUNTRY WEEK DEAR GODS NOOOOO! Well then, I won’t know any of these songs, and I’ll be in hell for the next two hours. Good times.
We get a package about the Grand Ole Opry, and how Randy Travis worked with the kids. These days, Randy looks like a cross between Max Headroom and beef jerky.
1. Michael Sarver: He’s going to do a song that’s “loaded with lyrics”. From his rehearsal with Randy, it sounds like a country take on “The End of the World As We Know It”. He’s joined on stage by a harmonica player sitting on the steps. Michael shows us that the contestants can still walk around behind the judges. And we get a LOT of shots of the harmonica dude. It’s a peppy song, and I suppose he does all right with it. It’s not musically risky, but there certainly are a lot of words. I’ve just noticed that Michael has a funny way of singing, not opening his mouth far enough and flashing his upper teeth. It looks weird. Randy agrees with me, that the song didn’t challenge his vocal capabilities. Kara liked seeing his personality. Paula liked seeing him have fun. Simon starts with, “well, it SHOULD have been good.” He couldn’t understand a single word. Michael could have been singing in Norwegian. Ha! Michael comes back with, “If we were all perfect, we wouldn’t need this show.” It’s a dis that I … don’t really get. This show is for people who are already good. It’s not here to MAKE you good.
2. Allison Iraheta: She’s going to do a Patty Loveless song. I’ve never even heard of Patty Loveless. She has a dorky dance move that she may or may not do, but Randy didn’t like it. She seems to be having fun with the song. A bit of the song in the middle is too low for her, and she takes a couple of breaths in awkward places, but overall it’s an entertaining performance. Kara thinks she could sing the alphabet well. Paula loves on her power and rock edge. We keep going to shots of a woman who I assume is Allison’s mom, weeping with joy in the audience. Simon thought it was good, a little tuneless in parts, and thought she was struggling with the words. Randy declares the performance “dope”.
3. Kris Allen: Looks like he’s going to go all soft and high and weepy with his guitar, again. During his rehearsal with Randy, he’s making squinchy little faces as he sings. Will he do that in performance? Let’s see. Oh, he’ll be doing it without his guitar! And sitting on a stool! Yes, he’s getting all squashed up in the face as he sings, and he’s holding the microphone weirdly, somehow with just the tips of his fingers. We see his family in the audience when he’s done singing, and his dad wipes away a tear. Paula is pleasantly surprised, and liked the honest, pure and vulnerable performance. Simon thought it was terrific, and says all kinds of other nice things. Randy loved the chance he took. Kara felt the song transcended country, and was just beautiful.
4. Lil Rounds: We’re back from commercial to the stools. Lil’s dress is ghastly, with a huge ruffle over the bosom. She gets interviewed about life back at the Idol mansion, and how she felt about country week. She’s going to sing “Independence Day”, which is a song I’ve heard! Someone did it at The American Idol Experience the day I did it! The song, the style, the content … are all wrong for Lil. It feels awkward and uncomfortable throughout. And her 1980s cocktail dress doesn’t help things at all. I’m not really into Lil, since there’s nothing terribly new and exciting about her — we’ve seen her ilk on Idol many times before. Randy agrees that it didn’t feel comfortable on her. She explains things back to Randy too extensively. Kara wanted her to choose another song, but gave her kudos for making a choice that Lil felt was right. Paula loves her hair, makeup and clothing. Simon keeps calling her “little”, then compared her to someone forced to sing a requested song at a wedding. She felt and looked uncomfortable. Lil again talks back too much. I don’t like the extensive talkback.
5. Adam Lambert: We come back from the break to the stools, AGAIN! Let me pause for a moment to comment — apparently this week, the rumors are spreading around that Adam is gay. Or at least that there are pictures of him kissing boys. And I have to say: REALLY? I had no idea! There’s concern that America won’t stay with him if it turns out that he’s gay. And I have to say, if anyone thought that guy was actually straight, they were deluding themselves. OK, back to the stools. He’s going to make sure his country song is very, very Adam. He’s going to sing “Ring of Fire”. He left Randy Travis speechless. He’s doing the song in some crazy sitar arrangement. It’s a frightening trainwreck, and I can’t look away. Props to him for making the song something so different from country, but it’s just hideous. And the crowd seems to love it. Kara found it strange, and doesn’t know what to make of it, but she kind of liked it. Paula loves how artistically true to himself he is. Simon shrugs and smiles, and asks, “What the hell was that?!” He pulls out the “indulgent rubbish” insult. Randy loved that it was current, young, fresh and hot.
6. Scott MacIntyre: He’s doing a Martina McBride song, and Randy Travis is all uncomfortable and uncertain. Of course, he’s on the old baby grand. The song is, as per Idol usual, keyed a bit too low. Some of the low notes get lost. And some of his high notes aren’t that great. But he does get across the idea that wild angels are watching over you and me. And the crowd loves the pee out of him. Paula worries that the piano is a bit of a crutch, separating him from the audience, and he’s losing the connection. He tells her they can move the piano closer. Now THAT’S the kind of talkback I like. Simon bickers with Paula about the whole piano/no-piano thing. Simon doesn’t like the song choices yet, and says that last week’s and this week’s were very similar in tempo and tone. Randy hasn’t seen the hot, crazy, unbelievable vocals. Kara sums it up, asking him to up his game and wow everyone.
7. Alexis Grace: Once again, we’re back from commercials to the stools. She gets asked how everyone’s doing backstage. She’s going to sing “Jolene”, which sounds familiar. Ah, it’s a Dolly Parton song. Randy Travis gives her props for understanding how to tell the story of the song. The first line is really wonky, and at least half the notes sound off. Then she gets into it, and it turns out all right. But honestly, I think it’s an awful song. There’s only so much you can do with it. Randy tells her that there were a lot of pitch problems, and didn’t really care for the bluesy twist. Kara thought she lost her edge a bit, and found it flat. Paula liked it better than the others did, and applauds the artistic approach. Simon thought it was okay, and a little bit sound-alike and forgettable.
8. Danny Gokey: He messed up all over the place in his Randy Travis session, doing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel”. He’s looking dapper in a white jacket, and as usual, he hits all the notes beautifully. But oh my god, what a song! She’s driving too fast on an icy night with her baby in the backseat, spins out, and lets go of the wheel? Begging Jesus to take over? This is the perfect example of why I don’t like country music. Good gravy. Kara didn’t like the front half, but the second part of the song really worked for her. Paula kind of disagrees, because she loves how an artist builds a story. Simon agrees with Paula, that you can’t start the song full-on, and you need light and shade. Then Simon hates on the white jacket. Randy agrees with Kara, that Danny’s verses aren’t great. He needs to build those up, so they match the quality of his choruses.
9. Anoop Desai: He was nervous about country, and he’s going for another distinctive song, Willie Nelson’s “You Were Always on My Mind”. Oh dear. He’s using a microphone stand, but as he stands there, I can tell he’s been studying the greats on making eye contact with the camera. He actually does a good job changing the song up just enough so that it’s not a copy of Willie Nelson. It’s a decent ballad performance. Paula declares Anoop to be “back”, and gives him many little praises. Simon tells him he went from zero to hero, and commends his song choice. Randy enjoyed the arrangement and the vocal skills. Kara gives him kudos for doing such a good job with another so-called “untouchable” song.
10. Megan Joy Corkrey: She’s going to do “Walking after Midnight”, and even though Randy Travis has heard it every possible way, he finds her rendition unique. She’s changing the melody around, apparently. She stands behind a microphone stand, wearing a dress with no brassiere, so it looks like she’s smuggling two grapefruits around. Her “unique” rendition seems to be some sort of cross between 40s jazz and yodeling. Once again, she does her awkward twist dance, and it still looks awful. She has a quivery, goat-bleating sound to her voice. I can’t tell if she’s singing that way on purpose, or if she’s wracked with nerves. Ah, she’s been ill with the cough. Randy was expecting a trainwreck, but thought it was actually pretty good. Kara thinks the song and the look are perfect, and applauds her for getting up and performing with the flu. Paula lets us know that she was in the hospital, and missed the run-through. Simon tells her she should have the flu every week, and that she looks gorgeous.
11. Matt Giraud: He’s doing another Carrie Underwood song, and Randy Travis wasn’t sure it was a good song choice. But Matt behind the piano seemed to impress him. We come back from the package, and Seacrest is standing next to the judges’ table. As he introduces Matt, we see Paula sniffing and stroking Simon’s forearm. I have three letters for that: WTF? Matt’s at the old baby grand, and I immediately wonder if he’ll get the same comments about connection to the audience that Scott got. In his suit, he looks much more Michael Bublé than Justin Timberlake. He’s playing well, but a few of the notes sound really wonky. Then he hits the chorus, and as with most guys, he gets better there. Kara gives him many praises, and ends with “amazing”. Paula loves his authenticity and honesty. Simon gives him kudos for his vocals, and says that tonight he outsang Adam. Then he makes my same comparison to Michael Bublé. Ha! Randy brings up both Bublé and Timberlake, and how Matt can span the miles between those two.
Recaps: Michael seems awkward and nervous. Allison went all country rock. Kris made squishy faces while he was a boring balladeer. Lil wasn’t boring, but she seemed bored. Adam’s burning ring of fire was just plain weird. Scott blinded blindly through inspirational music. Alexis begged Jolene to leave her man alone. Danny was great as usual. Anoop surprised with softness. Megan Joy bleated her way through the flu. Matt played the piano and got all falsetto at the end.
Whoo, tough choices this week. I’m hoping this week we’ll go back to the bottom-three system. My bottom-dwellers are going to be Megan, Michael, and Kris, with flu-ridden Megan going home.
