So here we are down to our top 7 and about to pick our top 6 candidates for this year's American Idol crown.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, at this point in the season we are now just going through the motions with only 3 (maybe 4) real contenders left.
This week's mentor is non-other than Quentin Tarantino, best known for his edgy flicks and for giving a Simon a run for his money as a guest judge on Idol a few seasons ago. Although not a musician himself I was impressed at how he was able to "direct" the contestants.
In order to cut down on the show's running time, and to avoid that a contest's performance gets cut off, the producers decided to pair up the judges and have them alternate giving their critiques. After watching the entire show I can now confidently say I didn't like it. By gaining the extra 5 mins at the end of the show we lost out on Paula's rambling non-sense and Simon's harsh (but honest criticism) for half the contestants. But oh well....lets dim the lights and begin...
Tttttthis is American Idol Week 6 Recap
Kicking this off this week was young Allison Iraheta taking on Aerosmith's classic tune "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon. I'm still on the fence about this performance, it was ok but not one of Allison's best. Don't get me wrong she is still one of the top four singers on the show this year but I just don't think that she did the song as much justice as she could have. That said it should be good enough to get her through to the next round without much trouble. Once again Simon hit the nail on the head when he said that Allison is the only hope left for the women in the competition.
Anoop "Dogg" Desai was next up with his performance of the Bryan Adams hit "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. To be honest, and to the point, I agree with Randy's comments. I didn't expect anything fantastic from Anoop but once again he surprised me with his performance. If Anoop keeps it up he will find himself in the top three. One thing I will add is that Anoop's performance last night will put another contestant at greater risk of being sent home tonight.
Next we heard from Adam Lambert, or Scream Queen as I like to call him due to the trademark squeal or shriek he puts into all of his performances. So last night Adam put his mark on the über classic "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf from the movie Easy Rider. Once again Adam delivers an intense performance that goes unrivaled by other contestants but is it getting to be a bit over the top and showy? Adam has impressed me over the last few weeks and last night's performance was very intense. Simon called it a bit like a scene from the Rocky Horror Picture show. Bottom line is Adam knows how to put on a show live. To me that is most important in a musical act these days...with so many pop acts going pre-recorded for the live shows and then just lip-syching over the audio track it's actually nice to see an act that can perform.
Fourth was the on again off again Matt Giraud performing, on the piano, his take on Bryan Adams "Have you Ever Really Loved a Woman" from Don Juan. I'm not sure what to make of Matt anymore. He really needs to get a bit more consistant with his performances if he wants to have any shot at the title. Last night's performance was good but nowhere near the great that it should be at the top 7 level. I fear that after yet another solid performance by Anoop this week Matt could, once again, be in some serious danger of being voted off.
Good ol'Danny Gokey took to the stage fifth overall last night (close to where he was ranked in my Idol ranking coming into this week). Danny, once again, went for the heart strings trying to get America's vote(s) through their tears by performing a song, which, as Simon said, was close to his heart. The song was "Endless Love" by Diana Ross from the movie Endless Love. Honestly Danny when are you going to start showing us why you are still in this competition. We know you have the talent tucked away inside you somewhere. Show us that you can rise up and be the next David Cook. You are one of only two possible contestants who might stand a chance at toppling Queen Adam from her, I mean his throne.
Next up is Kris Allen, it's no secret that Kris has been one of my personal favorites since the beginning. This week Kris takes us in a direction that most of the other contestants avoided with the plague. Kris picked a song, that was not a blockbuster smash from an epic movie that was written by a superstar. Kris chose to perform "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglova from the movie Once. The song itself actually won an Academy Award in 2007 for Best Original Song. At this point Kris is, without a doubt, one of the top contendors. The judges were split on his performance but I think he deserves a bit more credit than he is getting (sorry Randy can't side with you on this one)!!! I have been saying it for weeks now that Kris is the underhyped dark horse that is lying in wait for the right moment to strike.
Last, but not least, Lil Rounds. Lil has been another one of those shining stars that has started to dim as the weeks went on. I would expect that with all of the movie songs to chose from Lil would pick a song with lots of power opportunities in it to suit her vocal range and power. Last night Lil picked the song "The Rose" from the movie of the same name by Bette Midler. I have always loved this song as it is likely one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written for a film. Lil is a sweet girl and if she could just bring some of that into this performance she might have a chance. Unfortunately The Rose a la Lil just didn't work for me. Once again I find myself agreeing with Simon...Lil just doesn't get it. She doesn't seem to understand the point to the competition. In her performance her tone was all over the place and her pitch was way off more than once. I'm sorry Lil but I believe the curtain is closing on you this week.
So that's it, your top 7. Who will stay and who will go. It is getting harder to predict but I will give it a shot.
Bottom Three: Lil, Matt and Danny
Going home: Lil
Tune in again tomorrow for my recap of the actual results and see how close I came.
For now I leave you with this gem from the current season of Britain's Got Talent. 47 year old Susan Boyle blows the socks off of Simon Cowel and the other two judges with her peformance of "Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables. Enjoy!
Video courtesy of Ricky.org
No comments:
Post a Comment