American Idol Recap – Top 9
Adam Lambert and Kris Allen Shine on iTunes Top Downloads Night
Mar 31, 2009
This week the Top-9 American Idol finalists had an expansive theme for the show – iTunes Top Downloads. Essentially, they got to pick just about any song they wanted, which made song choice more critical than ever. Here’s how they did, and who might be going home:
Anoop Desai: “Caught Up” by Usher
It wasn’t that Anoop did not sing the song well; it is that it just never seemed to end. The song choice was not the best; if Anoop tied to emulate Usher’s dance moves, then it would come across as a copy-cat performance, but by not putting anything extra in, the song seemed to lack any real excitement, so he ended up in a no-win situation. Anoop did a decent job with the song, but it might not be enough to keep him out of the bottom three.
Megan Joy: “Turn Your Lights Down Low” by Bob Marley and the Wailers
When the judges talk about picking a song that is too “safe”, Megan’s performance is the perfect example of what they mean. While it was an okay song and an okay performance, it did nothing to stretch Megan’s voice or show it off. Astonishingly, Paula was onto something with her comments; Megan does not really look like she knows what to do with herself on stage, alternating between stiff movements and simply standing still. Megan’s personality gets a lot of votes, but she will still be in trouble this week.
Danny Gokey: “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts
Danny’s voice is so good, that even when he pushes a little too hard, it doesn’t really matter. Danny did not have the kind of stage presence that he typically exhibits, but he took a really tough song and pretty much knocked it out of the park. Not much else to say expect that Danny should have no problem sticking around next week.
Allison Iraheta: “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt
The two words that best Allison tonight: crazy hair. She played up the punk angle a little too much, but the song choice was just right; it was a perfect match for Allison’s voice. It was too bad that the judges were too obsessed with her outfit to recognize that her vocal performance was really good. The guitar actually prevented Allison from moving around the stage a whole lot, and in that respect it took away from her performance. Once again, she should easily be through.
Scott MacIntyre: “Just the Way You Are”, Billy Joel
Scott was coming off a week where he landed in the bottom three, and he responded with his best performance of the season. The song was right up his alley, and performing it solo was the perfect choice. They are still working on Scott’s image, but at least he looked a little less like the “Greatest American Hero” this week. Scott obviously struggled to get votes last round, but if the voting truly reflects how well Scott performed, he should be able to pull himself up out of the bottom three.
Matt Giraud: “You Found Me” by The Fray
The problem with the Idol finalists being able to essentially pick their favorite song is that they run the risk of doing a karaoke performance, and that is what happened with Matt. It sounded like he was simply trying to replicate the original, but that aside, Matt really did a good job with the song, and has a better voice than he gets credit for. Sure, it sounded like the closing scene of a “Gray’s Anatomy” episode, and he might make a return appearance in the bottom three, but Matt does not deserve to go home yet.
Lil Rounds: “I Surrender” by Celine Dion
Lil picked a big song to tackle, and did a gutsy job of pulling it off convincingly. The judges were a bit critical – if she had picked a Mary J. Blige song, like they suggested, she ran the risk of her performance being called a copy-cat, like Matt’s. Lil definitely needs to come out of her shell a little bit though, and the best choice for her might be just trying to forget pleasing the judges and just do her own thing, whether it is Mary J or not. The judges might hurt Lil’s chances, but there is no reason for her not to be back next week.
Adam Lambert: “Play that Funky Music” by Wild Cherry
You can always count on Adam to bring something completely different to the table, and he certainly did not disappoint tonight. It started funky, wound up totally disco and was completely over the top, but as always – Adam made it work. Adam’s performances are so natural, that a lot of people do not realize how difficult it is to sing with the kind of control he exhibits. He’s different, but in a good way. Adam carried over the ‘young Elvis’ look from last week – with his style of singing, the Emo thing may do better in the voting. It was one of the two best performances of the night.
Kris Allen: “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
Just to get it out of the way – nobody but Bill Withers can truly do this song justice, and Kris stripped all of the bluesy angst out of it, but it was still his best vocal performance of the competition. He rivaled Adam for the best of the night, and the piano works far better for Kris than the guitar does. Kris seems to get better each week, and if he continues down that path, should be around for awhile.
Once again American Idol saved the best for last, with Adam and Kris clearly a notch or two above the rest. Based on their performances, the best candidates for the bottom three are Anoop, Megan and Matt. Of those, Matt did the best job and might be safe, leaving Anoop and Megan on the edge of elimination.
Here is what happened when the Top 8 Idols returned to sing songs from their year of birth.
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