Who had the best performance?

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Posted in American Idol 2009 | Comments Off

Idol 3-31-09

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Simon put it best: There were a lot of karaoke performances tonight. But thank goodness for Danny Gokey, Scott MacIntyre, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. Those four were head-and-shoulders above everyone else tonight.

Here’s my reviews written shortly after each performance:

Anoop Desai - He chose an Usher song because he wanted to show energy and he said he wants to be an R&B artist? There was no energy at all and his vocals still sounded like an adult contemporary artist. There was no hint of R&B in his performance. Not good. Bottom three is possible.

Megan Joy – She takes on a Bob Marley song “Turn Your Lights Down Low” and bombs. Not just a little bomb … this was an explosion! There is absolutely no way that she is better than Alexis Grace… let me ask you this: Would you rather watch and listen to Megan Joy and her weird dance moves; or would you like to see Alexis Grace, listen to her sing and watch her moves on the stage? Decision is easy for me … MJ is in the bottom 3 on her way home this week.

Danny Gokey – Whew! Emotionally-charged performance singing Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts the Most.” Kara said it right when she said it was something that brought out the goosebumps. She’s right. (Was she eyeing him afterward? …)

Allison Irahet – Bringing out the guitar, Allison did a nice job on No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” But she was far from Danny Gokey’s category. Three judges talked about her outfit and hair … and rightfully so. My 8-year-old daughter said “What’d she do to her hair?” Overall, though, the singing was OK. She should be safe anyway, especially after the first two disasters of the evening.

Scott MacIntyre - He’s singing Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are.” A new look for Scott’s hair must have helped. … It was a great rebound for Scott after being in the bottom 3 last week. Will he be there again? I’d be surprised after this performance. He sung beautifully and he did change a few things around with the song to make it interesting.

Matt Giraud – He may end up in the bottom 3 again. I agree with the judges that he made himself sound way too my like The Fray’s lead singer on “You Found Me.” He was impressive, however, on the keyboard.

Lil Rounds – I thought for sure that one of the judges would say something about tackling a Celine Dion song. It seems like whenever someone sings Dion or Mariah Carey or even Whitney Houston, the judges criticize for trying to sing their songs. However, she did a nice job with “I Surrender” and should get through to the next round. Wasn’t it cure when Randy was getting a hug from Lil Rounds’ child?

Adam Lambert – What will he do next after last week’s big performance? How about Wild Cherry’s “Play that Funky Music”? Another big stage presence; another over-the-top performance and the crowd loved it. Did I love it? I liked it a lot, but I didn’t love it. I’m a bit tired of his loud, high-pitched shreeeeek! However, he can sing, that’s for sure. He can perform, that’s for sure. And each week, I wonder what he’ll come up with next. That means he’s a true performer and that’s what it takes in this competition.

Kris Allen – How do you follow up after Adam Lambert? Ha! Kris Allen had no problem and he created what was the best performance of the night with an emotionally-charged “Ain’t No Sunshine.” He wanted to try and make something memorable … he did that perfectly. This was a “moment” for Kris and one worth replaying in years to come.

Top 3 performers: 1. Kris Allen. 2. Danny Gokey. 3. Scott MacIntyre. 4. Adam Lambert.

Bottom 3 pick: Anoop, Megan, Matt

Going home pick: Megan (finally!)

Posted in American Idol 2009 | 3 Comments »

Poll

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

I had to move the polls because the previous poll which was located on the right sidebar was acting a bit weird. So here’s one question for you:

Posted in Past American Idol finalists | No Comments »

Rankings – Week 3

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Call these “power ratings” or whatever you want, but as we head into American Idol’s Top Downloads theme week, here are my ratings of the singers after Week 3 (last week’s ranking is in parenthesis):

1. (3) Adam Lambert – I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff on the Internet about Adam this week, but his performance during Motown theme week has to bolt him fom No. 3 to No. 1 … at least for now.

2. (4) Allison Iraheta – What? In front of Danny Gokey? Remember, this is after the previous performance and I thought Allison was huge on Wednesday. She was definitely overshadowed by Adam Lambert, though … which she really shouldn’t have been. After watching it again, you really see how good she can be.

3. (2) Danny Gokey – When I see Danny sing, I still see a star and still see a great vocal range. But he wasn’t in the same category as Adam and Allison this week.

4. (1) Matt Giraud – two great performances and another above-average performance last week couldn’t keep Matt out of the “Bottom 3″ in the voting. Amazing, isn’t it? Here is the most consistently-solid performer in the past three weeks and he was in the bottom 3… I hate to drop him from No. 1, but have to because of his “Bottom 3″ status.

5. (7) Anoop Desai – He keeps moving up because of another solid performance. But notice that he’s moving up because of two ballads. I wonder if he can amp-up his performance and still be solid?

6. (6) Kris Allen – The judges continue to love him, but I haven’t see the star quality out of Kris yet. I like his singing, but I see the same kind of singer/performer now as I did a few weeks ago. I like to see that a performer can sing several genres well and I’m not so sure he is that guy … yet.

7. (5) Lil Rounds – She needs a very solid “Top Downloads” theme week performance because she’s about three or four weeks away from elimination … or sooner.

8. (8) Scott MacIntyre – I still want to hear if this guy has any vocal range. He can play the piano as long as he wants … really, it doesn’t bother me because he’s good at it. But just give me a vocal performance that I can sit back and say, “Yep, he belongs,” because that hasn’t happened yet.

9. (9) Megan Joy Corkrey – She gets to sing a top downloaded song… I think she really ought to be able to pick something out in her genre (whatever it might be … we still don’t know) and at least sound better than last week … well, maybe.

Out: Michael Sarver, ranked 10th last week

Posted in American Idol 2009 | No Comments »

Theme week

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

I read that this week’s theme is the “Top Downloads” week on “American Idol.”

Also, last year’s winner David Cook is suppose to sing his new single “Come Back to Me” on Wednesday’s show. The single is scheduled for release on April 6. His top downloaded song is “Light On.”

Lady Gaga will also sing her latest release, “Poker Face,” on the show. Her top downloaded song is the hit “Just Dance.”

What do you think of “Come Back to Me” and “Poker Face”? Will they be hits? I listened to both and wasn’t too crazy about “Poker Face.” I liked Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” much, much better. I think Cook’s “Come Back to Me” could grow on me the more I listen to it, but I’m not sure if it’s a huge hit.

Posted in American Idol 2009 | 1 Comment »

Alexis Grace talks about post-Idol

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

My favorite little “Idol” castoff, Alexis Grace (she’s said to be 4′11″, 98 lbs.), spoke with TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly about her future plans and how it felt to be voted off the show.

Take a look at her interview with TV Guide:

Posted in American Idol 2009 | No Comments »

Michael Sarver gone

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

As predicted … Michael Sarver is gone from “American Idol.”  On a positive note, he gets to now spend time with his family (if you remember two weeks ago, he was emotional when he said he child wondered why he wasn’t home.)

But hey, he’s on the tour at least, right?

Agree with the decision to remove Sarver?

Impressive … 36 million votes and the most received at the top 10 level. It shows that by having quality talent, adding a quality judge and retaining the quality host (Seacrest) shows that you still have a quality show.

What did you think of Ruben Studdard’s tune “Together”? The dude can certainly sing! I’m sure it sounds better as a recording, but I thought he was good and played the audience well.

“You’re the one for me” from Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone was good … when Stone was singing. Last week, Carrie Underwood was awesome and Randy Travis was horrible in their duet. This week, Stone showed her vocal power. Robinson was better than Travis for sure, but he showed that his pipes have age for sure.

Really liked the Stevie Wonder medley!

Posted in American Idol 2009 | 6 Comments »

American Idol – 3-25-09

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Adam Lambert… this was your night! I wrote early in the season that Adam Lambert would take home the “American Idol” title this year. Then, last week’s performance made me wonder if he would even return this week.

But he came back strong tonight with a tender Motown song. More importantly, Lambert showed the range we knew he had; he showed some tenderness; he cleaned up and used what looked like four cans of hair spray along with a can of gel; he removed the nail polish and was really, really outstanding.

Also amazing was Allison Irahet. Wow! She certainly does not look or sing like a 16-year-old. And when is Randy going to stop saying things that are cool are “dope?” I thought dope was a bad thing! But back to Allison … she proved to me tonight that she is definitely a contender for the title.

I thought the judges were a bit hard on Danny Gokey and Lil Rounds tonight. I agree that Lil was rushing, but she still sounded solid. And Danny looked like he was having fun singing and dancing. I thought his singing range was very good, too.

Bottom three are going to be tough this week because there were a lot of nice performances. Matt Giraud was good, Kris was decent, Anoop was outstanding. On the other end, I’m not so sure that Scott’s voice is getting any better with each week, Megan looked good, but didn’t sound great … and then there was Michael Sarver.

The bottom line is this: No matter who is in the bottom three, Sarver is going home. He was, by far, the only person with a subpar performance of the 10.

My bottom 3 pick: Michael Sarver, Scott MacIntyre and Megan Joy Corkrey

Others possibly in the bottom 3: Lil Rounds and Kris Allen

Going home pick: Michael Sarver.

My top three performers of the week in order: 1. Adam Lambert. 2. Allison Irahet. 3. Danny Gokey.

Your thoughts?

Posted in American Idol 2009 | 5 Comments »

Jennifer Hudson on ‘Idol’

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Third-season finalist Jennifer Hudson is returning to the “American Idol” stage.

The Grammy-winning and Oscar-winning actress-singer is scheduled to tape a performance tonight after the “Idol” show in front of the studio audience, according to an Associated Press article. That taped segment will air on an upcoming segment, the story said.

Posted in American Idol 2009, Past American Idol finalists | 2 Comments »

Reminder – No Idol tonight

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Just a reminder that “American Idol” is not on tonight due to President Obama’s nationally-televised speech. “Idol” performers take the stage on Wednesday this week, with one possibly voted off on Thursday, depending on whether or not the judges use the “Judges Save” feature.

Posted in American Idol 2009 | No Comments »