The season started out the same as the previous seven with Simon and the other 3 musketeers auditioning the seemingly endless "bad" talent that exists in America, and always seem to be surprised when they get rejected.
Once things got serious things were narrowed down to a group of 36 and then we went through several brutal weeks that left me wondering what happened to the talent the judges picked.
Anyway enough rambling about the disastrous start to Idol 8 lets get on with this week, particularly last night, Country Music Night. After the majority of the Idols tripped, badly, over the first two weeks I dreaded Country week, after all nothing sounds worse than country music sung badly.
Ok so here is my breakdown of the top 11 and my thoughts on what they had to offer:
- Lets start with every one's favorite Texan, Michael Sarver.
I'm thinking, ok, he's from Texas so hopefully I should finally see what the judges are seeing in him. So he is singing Garth Brooks Ain't Going Down 'Till the Sun Comes Up, this has to be the hardest Garth song I know. It is lyrically overloaded and a very fast tempo not something for the faint of heart. On the positive side of things Michael remembered all of the words. On the negative side it sounded like he was running a marathon while he was singing. His breathing was all over the place and he was panting like a dog that had gone a day without water. Definitely not his best performance to date. - Next up was Lil, or little as Simon calls her. I'm still undecided about Lil, generally R&B singers don't do well outside of their genre. Lil picked the powerful, Independence Day by Marina McBride. I was surprise by this, especially when it seemed almost obvious that she would sing Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You or a similar country song that has been turned into an R&B classic. The judges weren't so fond of her performance but all in all I'd give it a thumbs up, my favorite from Lil to date.
- Next came little Allison with the big rockin' voice....she sang Blame It On Your Heart by Patty Loveless. I'm a fan of Allison's and although this wasn't her best to date she did ok, she's a gritty rocker girl and she'll be back in her element once the country is left behind.
- Fourth was Megan, ah yes Megan. The mom with the cool sleeve tattoo on her arm. Meg has a unique sound, and dance, that I haven't decided if I hate or love yet. Once again Meg goes vintage with Walkin' After Midnight by Patsy Cline. I think she did really well with it, the dance was still there and she needs to work on her stage presence a bit but all in all it was a good performance, and then we find out that the poor girl was deathly ill with a flu the whole time. All I can say is if that is Meg with the flu I can't wait to see what she can do when she is healthy.
- Matt G. was fifth and was the first to take a bite out of Carrie Underwood's music with So Small. Matt is a crooner and this was easy for him and he showed quickly that he will do well with this type of music. No doubt he was among the better performers of the evening.
- Sixth was the leading favorite Danny Gokey. He must have been having a bad night because first his session with Randy Travis was a joke, very disrespectful. His performance of Jesus Take The Wheel was good but not spectacular. Danny is popular enough that he should be around for a bit but hopefully he starts to take this more seriously.
- Little Alexis took on Dolly's classic story about Jolene. The performance and vocal were very good but I agree with the judges it was missing the grit and edge that we are used to seeing from Alexis. I strongly believe that she will be back next week.
- Scott MacIntyre and his piano took the stage eighth with what some might have called a risk. Singing Martina McBride's Wild Angels. Even Randy Travis was a bit nervous about the pick. Now I'll say I like Scott, he's a nice guy with a boat load of talent. Should he have made it this far in American Idol? Maybe not, but it's hard to say. Will he be crowned the Idol, I doubt it but you never know. As for last night he got out there and turned a few critics believers. Scott saved himself a spot in the top 10 with his performance.
- Anoop Doggy Dog was up next. The last few weeks this poor kid must have been starting to feel like a dead man walking and I believe that if he didn't do something spectacular this week he would be the one to go home. Anoop didn't disappoint. He came out with Always on My Mind and lifted the roof off the house. Definitely one of the top performers of the evening.
- Kris Allen has been the least talked about Idol to date but he has always been one of my favorites. In my opinion Kris is the only Idol that has yet to have a bad week and this week didn't disappoint. Taking on the Garth Brooks cover of the Billy Joel cover of the Bob Dylan song To Make You Feel My Love, he knocked it out of the park. Kris is one of my picks for the top 3.
- Lastly but most controversially we have the ever adored Adam Lambert. Ah yes the blue haired goth prince with the voice that....you get the idea. So it's country week and Adam is definately not country material. So he picks Johnny Cash, ok good choice. Ring of Fire, ok I see the connection, Goth, fire. Well it has been the most talked about performance of the season hands down. You either loved it or you hated it. Me? I loved it. It was unique and original and definately the performance of the night.
My pick for tonight's vicitm, so to speak is going to have to be Michael Sarver. Nice guy but just doesn't have what it takes to perform at the level of the other 10.
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