Topic: Idol-Talk
Brief (or not-so-brief) comments on Top 10 Results Show:
Over 36 million votes were cast. This is the highest of the season so far and the most votes ever for a Top 10 week.
Group Song: Why was it pretaped? After Justin Guarini revealed that the group songs are now lip-synced, you would think the producers would do anything they could to make it look real. And they didn't even make the lip-syncing look convincing this time. It was so horrible and so obvious. Whoever works with the contestants on the group song either needs to be fired or needs to actually teach them how to perform with a prerecorded vocal track if they're going to keep doing it that way. Or here's a brilliant idea: how about the contestants learn how to sing more than one song during the week? "Why didn't we ever think of that," exclaimed one AI producer.
Ruben Studdard performed: Even though I have all of Ruben's albums, they aren't my favorites. But if the song that he sang last week is anything to go by with regards to his upcoming album, then I'm looking forward to it. The song is called "Together" and fit his soulful "velvet" voice perfectly.
Idols in Detoit: When they showed the video of the contestants traveling to and spending time in Detroit, what did you all think of them using a private jet? I understand that the show can afford it, but aren't they setting such a great example of spending money wisely in this economy? Not.
Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone performed: nothing special.
Stevie Wonder performed a medley: Nothing short of amazing!
Bottom 3: Matt Giraud, Michael Sarver, Scott MacIntyre
Why was Matt in the bottom 3? I think the only reason for this is that he sang first, so voters forgot about him. Unfortunately, it was Scott that was the first to be safe of the three. That meant that it came down to Matt and Michael. And fortunately, Michael was eliminated. I never thought he was good enough to be one of the finalists in the first place. And I'll repeat what I said last week: "He won't even make it as a country artist." His voice is just not good enough to stand out in the music industry.
And one final note before I move on to the Top 9: The show ended at 9:02pm. I keep mentioning how annoyed I am at the show running over every week. I have two words for the producers: time management.
American Idol Season 8: Top 9
Airdate: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 [8-9:25pm]
Theme: Top Downloads
Now that I've gotten all my annoyances and criticisms out of the way, it's time for more criticisms...this time about the Top 9 performances (or some of them at least).
I have heard many different interpretations for what this week's theme is called: top downloads, top iTunes downloads, #1 digital songs, etc. But I think the official theme name is 'Top Downloads.'
- Anoop Desai [Usher's "Caught Up"]: When he said he was singing Usher, I thought Uh Oh. And uh oh was right. It was a completely karaoke performance with a song that didn't allow us to hear how great his voice really is. I heard nothing original from him tonight.
- Megan Joy ["Turn Your Lights Down Low"]: She was in trouble right from the first note. Once again, her voice was all over the place. Every time she hit a wrong note, I cringed and couldn't wait for the song to be over. The song did not work in her favor. She has escaped the Bottom 3 so far, but I would be shocked if she's not there this week.
- Danny Gokey ["What Hurts the Most"]: After the hard week he's been having (his grandfather passed away), this song allowed his emotion to come forward. Being a big Rascal Flatts fan myself, I thought this was one of his best performances. Near the end, when I could see his eyes water up, he let that emotion power the song and his voice.
- Allison Iraheta [No Doubt's "Don't Speak"]: At the start, I thought she was going to sing a stripped down version, which would have been great. But when the song picked up, that potential was gone. Like Randy said, it was as if she was forcing it out. But unlike the judges, I found nothing wrong with her wardrobe.
- Scott MacIntyre ["Just the Way You Are"]: What a turnaround from the past few weeks. He won't be in the bottom three, that's for sure (but you never know on this show). Even though he was at the piano once again, by not having the band play, we were able to focus on his voice without any distractions. His voice was beautiful and amazing tonight. This was his best performance so far (his only good performance, in fact), though I wasn't digging the hair.
- Matt Giraud [The Fray's "You Found Me"]: His voice was a little flat at the start. At the keyboard tonight, he tried to bring forth the soulfulness to his voice, but the song didn't fit that. He has the voice, so it's all about the song choice and it didn't work this time.
- Lil Rounds ["I Surrender"]: These past two weeks, she's been picking the wrong songs. And tonight was no different, unfortunately. We all know she can blow the roof off the studio with that voice, as evident tonight. But out of all the 'Top Downloads' songs to choose from, why not an R&B song? She should have picked a song that fit the genre she wants to be in as an artist, which is R&B.
- Adam Lambert ["Play That Funky Music"]: I agree with Randy: I wasn't sure about the song choice, but then he opened his mouth and all that wariness evaporated. Once again, he can sing anything. He makes each song his own, not just with the range of his voice, but with the arrangement of each song.
- Kris Allen ["Ain't No Sunshine"]: To me, last week was the start of his ascent up the ranks in the competition, and tonight continued that. Except for that last note, his voice was great. And I loved how he didn't use the standard arrangement we always hear from singers on this song; he changed it up a bit.
Favorite Performances: Danny Gokey / Scott MacIntyre / Adam Lambert / Kris Allen
My Vote: Danny Gokey [25 votes] / Adam Lambert [25 votes]
Elimination Prediction: Megan Joy
My Season 8 Vote Tracker:
Matt Giraud: 10 votes
Alexis Grace: 10 votes
Danny Gokey: 35 votes
Allison Iraheta: 10 votes
Adam Lambert: 75 votes
Lil Rounds: 10 votes
Total: 150 votes
Unless we have an upset, both Anoop and Megan are destined for the Bottom 3 this week. Now it's about figuring out who will take that third spot. I believe it will either be Allison or Matt. Matt was in the bottom last week, so his fans may rally around him this week to spare him, which means that it could more likely be Allison in jeopardy. Since you never know with this show, we could even see Lil in the Bottom 3. But I think that, even though the judges criticized her, showing one of her girls hug Randy will definitely help her.
Simon acted a lot better this week towards Paula. He only made a few remarks, so he's improving on that front.
If you want to buy any of the studio performances from tonight, visit americanidol.com/itunes.
David Cook and Lady Gaga will both be performing (separately) on tonight's results show. I can't wait for David's performance! So see ya then...
