Archive for American Idol
“American Idol” season 8 has reached a critical stage where three remaining contestants, all men, are vying for a slot in the final run. Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen performed on the stage on Tuesday, May 12, with a song which is selected by the judges and a song that they feel comfortable with. Here is the recap.
First on the stage was Danny Gokey with Paula Abdul’s choice, Terence Trent D’arby’s “Dance Little Sister”. Randy Jackson actually liked it but Kara DioGuardi despised the part where he danced with the saxophone solo. She said she would not remember the performance tomorrow. Paula loved the whole thing, the dancing and the singing. Simon Cowell called the dancing “desperate” and the song choice bad. Paula and Simon later on argued and she punched him. Danny defended the song choice, saying “I want to sing that song!”.
Kara and Randy picked “Apologize” by OneRepublic for Kris Allen. Like its original artist, Kris sat behind the piano for the piece. Randy was absolutely liking the performance, emphasizing that this could be the future genre for Kris. Kara said it was not exactly a home run and wanted him to take more chances. Simon then criticized Kara, “…You can’t choose a song for him then blame him for doing the song. You didn’t hold up to your responsibility.” She yelled back, “You’re gonna tell me about interpreting songs? Have you ever interpreted a song in your life?” and held her hand over his mouth.
Next, Adam Lambert tackled a song chosen by Simon, “One” by U2. Randy was not 100% impressed to the point where Adam went off the original so much but still liked the performance. Kara said, “You’re a strategist you proved you can take a song, change it up and make it unbelievable.” Simon, making a joke, said that it was a brilliant song choice and said, “You worked out what you wanted to do with it, a brilliant brilliant performance, if you aren’t in the finals it will be one of the biggest upsets.”
Filler of the night is Idol Gives Back that visited Angola, Africa. Alumna Carrie Underwood showed viewers their effort in fighting Malaria in the undeveloped country.
The second round began with Danny’s personal choice which was Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” backed up by an acoustic guitar and a string quartet. Randy loved the performance, while Kara called it “stunning”. Simon summed it up with, “I would call that a vocal master class.”
In an interesting twist, Kris sang a contemporary song that is a left turn to his usual genre. He picked Kanye West’s “Heartless” and topped it off with guitar. Randy loved it to the point where he said that it was better than the original. Kara deemed his interpretation of the R&B song, “bold, brave and fearless.” Simon meanwhile gushed, “I had written you out of the competition. That all changed with that performance.”
Adam chose “Cryin’” by Aerosmith. Randy said, “You are one of the best we’ve ever had on the stage.” Kara said, “Amazing we’ll see you at the finals” while Paula rumbled on, “You set the bar so high I hope you are collecting frequent flyer.” Simon made it clear to America that Adam needs to be voted in order to go to the finals. He said, “I want everyone to vote for you base on the fact you deserve to be there, not to assume.”
Megan Joy, the tattooed font designer, has to walk out of the stage of “American Idol” after getting the lowest vote based on the Tuesday, March 31 performance. She was in the bottom three along with Anoop Desai and Allison Iraheta. Ryan Seacrest announced that more than 36 million votes were cast on Tuesday.
Simon Cowell won’t bother to use the judges’ power to save her from elimination. “I’m not going to pretend that we’re even going to contemplate saving you,” he said. Megan did not impress the judges with her performance of Bob Marley’s “Turn Your Lights Down Low”. Simon said that she had become “indulgent” and “monotonous” although she was first picked through Wild Cards.
Asked by Ryan what she thinks about Simon’s comment, Megan said “I love you, Simon, but I don’t care.” Then Simon answered back, “Megan, with the greatest respect, when you said that you don’t care, nor do we. …This is your swan song. Enjoy it.”
Guest performers of the night were last season’s winner David Cook who sang a pre-taped performance of his latest single “Come Back to Me” and Lady GaGa who sang “Poker Face”.
“American Idol” will return on Tuesday, April 7 with the Top 8 performing songs released in the year of their birth. All contestants except for Allison Iraheta, were born in the ’80s.
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One more Idol falls out, as the top nine for the eight season of “American Idol” is announced. Michael Sarver, the oil rig roughneck that went through the Top 36 together with also-eliminated Alexis Grace, has to swallow the bitter pill of not getting enough votes to make him stay. He, however, has been included in the Top 10 and will tour with the rest after the show wraps up later this year.
Sarver was in the bottom three along with two other guys, Matt Giraud and Scott McIntyre. While 36 million votes were cast on the Motown night when he belted out “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”, he received the lowest of the three. Simon Cowell, additionally refused to use his judge power to save the father of two in the competition. “Michael, you’re going home. Sorry,” Cowell said.
In the performance night, indeed, Michael received harsh criticism from the four judges. Kara DioGuardi even labeled him “not an artist” while Randy Jackson advised him not to touch R’n'B genre “ever”. Michael was in fact loomed with flu and he coughed at the end of the performance.
Meanwhile, the result night was a star-studded affair. Apart from having mentor Smokey Robinson performing with Joss Stone, the show also welcomed back season 2 winner Ruben Studdard. The king of Motown, Stevie Wonder was also in the house to perform a medley.
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Tonight, the Top 10 contestants on AMERICAN IDOL Season 8 performed Motown songs.
Let’s find out how everybody did:
Matt Giraud
Song:
“Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
Thoughts: Oh Matt, I just love him. One of my favorite, and this was another great performance.
Rating:
4/4
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Kris Allen
Song:
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Love By You)” by Marvin Gaye
Thoughts: I gotta say, I like Kris. He keeps impressing me each week. I thought it was a pretty great performance.
Rating:
¾
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Scott MacIntyre
Song:
“You Can’t Hurry Love” by Diana Ross and the Supremes
Thoughts: I just don’t get Scott, I didn’t think this was very good at all. For me he is one of the weakest in the competition.
Rating:
2/4
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Megan Joy
Song:
“For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder
Thoughts: Wow, that was totally out of tune. Too bad I was starting to like Megan, but this was just not good.
Rating:
¼
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Anoop Desai
Song:
“Oh Baby, Baby” by Smokey Robinson
Thoughts: Wow, I am liking Anoop more and more each week. I went from not caring to loving him, which proves that you can change people’s minds.
Rating:
4/4
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Michael Sarver
Song:
“Ain’t Too Pround to Beg” by The Temptations
Thoughts: I thought Matt did an ok job. I wasn’t blown away, but it wasn’t terrible.
Rating:
2/4
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Lil Rounds
Song:
“(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas
Thoughts: Here is my problem with Lil Rounds, yes she has a big voice, but that’s all. She just doesn’t have that “it” factor. I find her really boring, and I don’t think she’s going to be sticking around until the end.
Rating:
2/4
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Adam Lambert
Song:
“The Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson
Thoughts: It’s official, Adam Lambert is my favorite contestant on American Idol ever. He has an amazing voice, it’s unbelievable.
Rating:
4/4
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Danny Gokey
Song:
“Get Ready” by The Temptations
Thoughts: That was a pretty good performance, but I don’t care about Danny as much as I used to.
Rating:
¾
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Allison Iraheta
Song:
“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations
Thoughts: Really liked that performance, Allison is really an amazing performer.
Rating:
4/4
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So who’s going to be in the bottom three? Here’s who I would put: Scott, Michael, Lil Rounds.
We’ll find out tomorrow if my wishes came true.
