it's smokey in motown...
I was kinda sorta pleasantly surprised at the success Wednesday night of Idol's annual visit to Motown. I was less so about the increasingly-juvenile behavior of the judges. What would have fit neatly into 60 minutes was unnecessarily spread over two hours. And the spotlight, once again, ws not as much on the contestants, but on the periphial characters.
But that's not a new complaint.
What became clear last night, after three weeks of finals, is that the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders. Three of the 10 could/should exit in the next few weeks, leaving behind a pretty decent top seven. Now the question is whether talent will win out over cute kids, quirkiness and sympathy.
Anyway, here are my thoughts, for what they're worth, compiled rather hastily this week but as always, listed from worst to first:
Megan Joy (For Once in my Life). Lordy lordy. I have heard better renditions of this song at the local Holiday Inn bar. From here on in, whenever somebody whips out a sub-par lounge act performance, I'm just gonna say they Megan'ed it. If this performance doesn't earn her a ticket home, I don't know what will.
Scott MacIntyre (Can't Hurry Love). I don't know if Scott couldn't keep up with the band or if the band was just a step ahead of Scott. In either case, not even the lovely background singers could save this performance. Scott has to be on borrowed time. He will be a nice addition to the tour, but his time on this show has to come to an end, sooner rather than later.
Michael Sarver (Ain't Too Proud to Beg). The bottom three are pretty much interchangeable in order, considering they turned in, by far, the worst performances of the night. So everything I said about Megan and everything I said about Scott and their future on this show, goes double for Michael, considering I said the same thing about him last week.
[insert very large gap here...]
Lil Rounds (Heatwave). Ah. The return of the Burger King backdrop. And here I thought that song had been retired after season two. Alas. I almost didn't care what Lil sang after her moving tribute to those who paved the way for her to be on that stage. But that was not a good choice. She looked the part but missed too many notes, and, as Randy said, she rushed it which left me out of breath.
Danny Gokey (Get Ready). Why when a legend suggests you, a non-legend, sing the song one way you would disregard that legend's advice with said legend in the audience is beyond me. Maybe that's why I tuned out midway through the performance.
Anoop Desai (Ooo Baby, Baby). I appreciate Anoop's decision to sing the melody and not try to frill it up. And as much as I hate to agree with Kara, he's proven he's got the vocal ability, now he just needs to switch it up, avoid another Beat It disaster and show that he can sing more than ballads, otherwise his voters are going to fall asleep at the phone.
Kris Allen (How Sweet it Is). Kris is doing everything right. He becomes better as the weeks go on. He gets more confidence as the weeks go on. He gets cuter as the weeks go on. Simon says he needs to ramp up the conceit a bit more. Nah. He's doing just fine.
Matt Giraud (Let's Get it On). Matt's stock keeps rising by the week. This was sexy, well-performed and a fine tribute to Marvin Gaye and Motown.
Allison Iraheta (Papa Was a Rolling Stone). Allison keeps proving she's really the only female in the bunch that deserves a spot in the May episodes. (She's 16!) She's already a pro.
Adam Lambert (Tracks of My Tears). I don't know if I was more impressed with Adam's take on this Smokey song or if I was about his appearance. Oh heck, both rocked. He rocked. And he almost made me forget the memory of Ring of Fire.
So that's what's on my mind. Now it's your turn.
Who should go: Megan, Michael, Scott (choose any one)
Who I want: Megan, Michael and Scott (In a shocking three-way boot)
Who will: Megan, Michael and Scott with Michael waving goodbye.
Ruben's back tonight, along with Smokey Robinson, Joss Stone and Stevie Wonder.
See you then.
But that's not a new complaint.
What became clear last night, after three weeks of finals, is that the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders. Three of the 10 could/should exit in the next few weeks, leaving behind a pretty decent top seven. Now the question is whether talent will win out over cute kids, quirkiness and sympathy.
Anyway, here are my thoughts, for what they're worth, compiled rather hastily this week but as always, listed from worst to first:
Megan Joy (For Once in my Life). Lordy lordy. I have heard better renditions of this song at the local Holiday Inn bar. From here on in, whenever somebody whips out a sub-par lounge act performance, I'm just gonna say they Megan'ed it. If this performance doesn't earn her a ticket home, I don't know what will.
Scott MacIntyre (Can't Hurry Love). I don't know if Scott couldn't keep up with the band or if the band was just a step ahead of Scott. In either case, not even the lovely background singers could save this performance. Scott has to be on borrowed time. He will be a nice addition to the tour, but his time on this show has to come to an end, sooner rather than later.
Michael Sarver (Ain't Too Proud to Beg). The bottom three are pretty much interchangeable in order, considering they turned in, by far, the worst performances of the night. So everything I said about Megan and everything I said about Scott and their future on this show, goes double for Michael, considering I said the same thing about him last week.
[insert very large gap here...]
Lil Rounds (Heatwave). Ah. The return of the Burger King backdrop. And here I thought that song had been retired after season two. Alas. I almost didn't care what Lil sang after her moving tribute to those who paved the way for her to be on that stage. But that was not a good choice. She looked the part but missed too many notes, and, as Randy said, she rushed it which left me out of breath.
Danny Gokey (Get Ready). Why when a legend suggests you, a non-legend, sing the song one way you would disregard that legend's advice with said legend in the audience is beyond me. Maybe that's why I tuned out midway through the performance.
Anoop Desai (Ooo Baby, Baby). I appreciate Anoop's decision to sing the melody and not try to frill it up. And as much as I hate to agree with Kara, he's proven he's got the vocal ability, now he just needs to switch it up, avoid another Beat It disaster and show that he can sing more than ballads, otherwise his voters are going to fall asleep at the phone.
Kris Allen (How Sweet it Is). Kris is doing everything right. He becomes better as the weeks go on. He gets more confidence as the weeks go on. He gets cuter as the weeks go on. Simon says he needs to ramp up the conceit a bit more. Nah. He's doing just fine.
Matt Giraud (Let's Get it On). Matt's stock keeps rising by the week. This was sexy, well-performed and a fine tribute to Marvin Gaye and Motown.
Allison Iraheta (Papa Was a Rolling Stone). Allison keeps proving she's really the only female in the bunch that deserves a spot in the May episodes. (She's 16!) She's already a pro.
Adam Lambert (Tracks of My Tears). I don't know if I was more impressed with Adam's take on this Smokey song or if I was about his appearance. Oh heck, both rocked. He rocked. And he almost made me forget the memory of Ring of Fire.
So that's what's on my mind. Now it's your turn.
Who should go: Megan, Michael, Scott (choose any one)
Who I want: Megan, Michael and Scott (In a shocking three-way boot)
Who will: Megan, Michael and Scott with Michael waving goodbye.
Ruben's back tonight, along with Smokey Robinson, Joss Stone and Stevie Wonder.
See you then.
posted by jennifer at 2:21:00 PM
5 Comments:
As you know, I am not an Adam fan, but last night he was two heads and an extra pair of shoulders better than anyone else.
Can't they whack Scott, Michael and Megan all in one fell swoop. You know the save won't be used on anyone other than Adam, Gokey or Lil, so why pretend that it's still in play.
Jennifer, I agree with every syllable you wrote. And Dave, I'm not a big Adam fan either but I really did love his performance last night.
I don't know if its me and my menopausal mood swings, or if the judges are more obnoxious this year, but they are really, really, getting on my nerves. As much as Kara's self importance bothers me, she seems to be the only one that is really paying attention to the kids and attempting to give them constructive feedback. Simon and Paula are acting like a couple of hormonal middle school adolescents and I am really, really tired of it. Its rude, disrespectful and ridiculous. Get a room already.
I personally loved Ring of Fire. It was SEXY as is Adam. :)
final three prediction: Adam Lambert, Daney Gokey and Allison Iraheta; i can't wait for about half the contestants to go home
I too thought Adam's theatrics were just plain annoying. Then he came out and sang "Tracks Of My Tears" and I near fainted. That has to be my favorite performace on AI other than Billy Jean by David Cook, and the acapella song Bo Bice sang. I not only downloaded the song on I-tunes, I downloaded the video. WOW, that was AWESOME.... Oh am I the only one, or is Adam a dead ringer (excuse the pun) for Elvis? I think someone needs to hire him to do a bio pic of Elvis !
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