Topic: Idol-Talk
American Idol Season 8: Top 13
Airdate: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 [8-10pm]
Theme: Michael Jackson
Ryan and the judges made a grand entrance into the studio tonight. I'm not surprised that they did this since they have been doing this sort of thing more than once over the years. And you know Simon loved the attention.
Right from the start, we found out from Simon that two contestants will be eliminated this week. This goes back to what I was talking about last week with regards to how a Top 13 would work into the schedule. And now we know.
Before I move onto my performance comments, I want to mention one more things. Did anyone else notice the new lower stage between the main stage and the judge's table that has a screen on the floor of it? If I remember correctly, that space was used for the annoying "mosh pit" last year. I actually quite like that they added this to the stage. It allows them to still be on stage while still being able to get closer to the audience and judges.
Now onto the focus of the show:
- Lil Rounds ["The Way You Make Me Feel"]: What a way to start off the night. As always, her voice never disappoints, and I loved the final falsetto note.
- Scott McIntyre ["Keep the Faith"]: I had a feeling he would be at the piano tonight after last week's comments. As I've said before, I will judge him the way I do the other contestants. Except for the last part (which picked up stronger than the first half), it was a boring performance. He will stick around for probably two or three more episodes, but it will catch up to him eventually.
- Danny Gokey ["P.Y.T."]: Now this is how a performance is done! His voice was brilliant and sung with passion. He was energetic which, combined with the voice, put him at the top of the list.
- Michael Sarver ["You Are Not Alone"]: I have never been excited about his performances, and tonight was no exception. He proved tonight he has a powerful voice, but I'm looking for someone who would stand out in the music industry after the show ends, and so far he hasn't proven that.
- Jasmine Murray ["I'll Be There"]: This is a song I would expect her to sing because, while she has a great voice, contestants her age tend to pick these well-known songs that don't show who they are as artists.
- Kris Allen ["Do You Remember the Time"]: With guitar in hand, he gave a crowd pleasing performance because he had fun on stage. But I found nothing special about it. His voice cracked at times, which didn't help his already just okay voice.
- Allison Iraheta ["Give Into Me"]: Like the judges said, she knows who she is as an artist. And so do we, which goes back to what I've been saying all night. She gave an exceptional rock performance. Fantastic voice and great song choice. Along with Danny, the best so far tonight.
- Anoop Desai ["Beat It"]: I was extremely disappointed by him tonight. Paula was right on the money: This song will always sound karaoke from anybody other than Michael Jackson himself. There was nothing original about it. It was not good, to put it plainly.
- Jorge Nunez ["Never Can Say Goodbye"]: The song suited his pure and beautiful voice very well. My only problem was that I wish it was a little more exciting, but I still thought it was an enjoyable performance.
- Megan Joy Corkrey ["Rockin' Robin"]: The style of this song completely fit Megan's style and personality. I love how she is herself on stage without a care for what others think of her. I hope that in the coming weeks, we will be able to see her branch out more, as Kara said.
- Adam Lambert ["Black or White"]: In the history of American Idol, we have not seen a contestant that would have been able to hit those notes in the way that he did tonight. Only Adam can do it and make it work. Even though he's already one of my favorites, I was just blown away by what we just witnessed.
- Matt Giraud ["Human Nature"]: It's hard to follow Adam's performance. But even so, Matt gave a feel-good performance that you can just sit back and enjoy. Not one of the best, but not one of the worst either.
- Alexis Grace ["Dirty Diana"]: This was a great way to end the night. Not on the level of Danny, Allison, or Adam tonight, but she still showed why she should be in this competition. And again, I still see a little Kelly Clarkson in her.
Favorite Performances: Lil Rounds / Danny Gokey / Allison Iraheta / Adam Lambert
My Vote: Adam Lambert [20 votes]
Elimination Prediction: Jasmine Murray / Jorge Nunez
My Season 8 Vote Tracker:
Alexis Grace: 10 votes
Danny Gokey: 10 votes
Allison Iraheta: 10 votes
Adam Lambert: 30 votes
Lil Rounds: 10 votes
Total: 70 votes cast so far this season
*Note: The above vote tracker of mine was originally on the American Idol page of TV Watch Online. From this point forward, it will be in my Idol-Talk segment of the blog.
I had an extremely hard time choosing the two to leave this week. If I personally were making the decision, I would send forgettable contestants like Michael Sarver or Kris Allen home, but from what the judges said, the audience reaction, and the online reaction, it doesn't look like they will leave. I chose Jasmine for a couple different reasons. One, she chose the completely wrong song that showed how young she really is. And two, I doubt she has the fan base that the others have, even the forgettable contestants I mentioned. And I chose Jorge for reasons I don't agree with. Nobody seemed to like his performance, but even though it wasn't near the best of the night, I don't think it was the worst either. But unfortunately, that may reflect in the voting results. The worst of the night was Anoop, but I believe his fan base is big enough to save him for at least this week.
We found out this past week that the Top 13 twist wasn't the surprise that was teased about a while ago. Rather, it will occur during Wednesday's Top 13 results show, as Simon and Ryan announced. They said that this would be a game changer and that the judges are involved in it. I don't remember if I mentioned this on Idol-Talk, but I have a theory on what this twist will be. I believe that when the bottom 3 are revealed, one person will be brought to safety, leaving the remaining bottom 2 in the hand of the judges where they will save one of them, regardless of who had the lowest votes of the two.
As has been publicized this past week, we will see performances by Kelly Clarkson and Kanye West during this week's results show. I've already said this before, but I can't wait to see Kelly sing her new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You." That song has been stuck in my head a lot lately. Her new CD, All I Ever Wanted, was released today and I hope to buy the Deluxe Edition this week.
Before I leave, I want to talk briefly about the end times for these past couple Idol episodes. Usually, if a show will go over, it is scheduled in the listings to end at 1, 2, or however many minutes after the hour. But with the Wild Card episode last week, Anoop's Top 13 addition was after 10:00 (the show ended at 10:04), meaning that your DVR's weren't able to tape the entire show if you didn't set it up to record longer. And tonight, the show ended at 10:05. I don't really have a problem with Idol going a few minutes long, but they should at least have it in the listings to prepare viewers.
See ya after the first two Top 13 contestants are eliminated.
