AMERICAN IDOL: Official Ledge Thread - Page 15

HejiraNYC · #**211** 03-23-2009, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

I forgot to ask if anyone else was creeped out by Carrie Underwood singing a love song with kinda-scary old guy Randy Travis.

Motown week. Smokey Robinson & Ruben Studdard performing Thursday.

Well, I find Randy Travis to be kinda creepy, regardless of whom he is with. He's got that old-dude-turning-into-an-old-lady syndrome. And with the frosted locks and skinny pants and, well... he's about as good at passing for "straight" as Barry Manilow.

TrueFaith77 · #**212** 03-23-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

I forgot to ask if anyone else was creeped out by Carrie Underwood singing a love song with kinda-scary old guy Randy Travis.

Motown week. Smokey Robinson & Ruben Studdard performing Thursday.

I love Smokey. I really enjoyed his last album. But I can't stand watching him on TV anymore.

jannieC · #**213** 03-25-2009, 08:39 PM

Wow- Adam. Holy Cow. I also liked Matt, but Adam is a star, really. What the hell is going on with Megan? She is amazingly beautiful but my God, that performance was painful. I think there are a few more performances left but I'm getting sleeeeeepy.

ontheEdgeof17 · #**214** 03-25-2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I love Smokey. I really enjoyed his last album. But I can't stand watching him on TV anymore.

Him or his new face?

GoldDustOrphan · #**215** 03-25-2009, 09:00 PM

Tonight, Allison gets my vote.

Goodbye: Megan Joyless

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ontheEdgeof17 · #**216** 03-25-2009, 11:47 PM

The Good:

Adam
Allison
Matt

The Bad:

Danny
Megan
Scott

The Forgettable:

Anoop
Kris
Lil
Sarver

iamnotafraid · #**217** 03-26-2009, 02:37 AM

don't know their names yet, but the blonde girl has to go.

Here's your top three (names I don't know)

Dude with the Elvis' hair (earrings).
Girl with the red red hair.
Black girl.

JazmenFlowers · #**218** 03-26-2009, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

The Good:

Adam
Allison
Matt

The Bad:

Danny
Megan
Scott

The Forgettable:

Anoop
Kris
Lil
Sarver

ITA...I want to like Danny and I do like when he hits certain notes and his gravelness comes out, but I just can't seem to really pull for him. I also think Lil is phenomenal, but this performance was forgettable.

TrueFaith77 · #**219** 03-26-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

Him or his new face?

His old face -- lifted behind his ears.

TrueFaith77 · #**220** 03-26-2009, 08:57 AM

American Idol - Season 8
The Top 10 (Motown Week)

American Idol is Television. It's not a talent contest. It's not a singing competition. It's not reality. It's tone is sensationalism. It rewards sensation. That's why David Cook won last year. No matter the theme, every week he cribbed someone else's "unique" take on a popular song. He never communicated any meaning with his re-arrangements. He simply provided a base Television pleasures: novelty. That's the quality Paula Abdul refers to as the "surprise" Adam Lambert brings to Idol each week. However, Adam's theatricality lifts his renditions above mere "novelty." He intuits that "novelty" must be connected to dramatic, essentially expressive, presentation. Surprise! Adam is the season's post-Tatiana star.

The Good

Adam Lambert -- "The Tracks of My Tears" -- Earning his standing "O" from Smokey Robinson, that's money in the bank. iTunes sales will soar. And they should. With his coiffed pompadour, he looks like he's going for a 50s/60s rockabilly/soul vibe though his expert falsetto suggests he going for an homage a la Chris Isaak. He ends up looking like k.d. lang. Like k.d., Adam Lambert takes on masculine images but naturally queers them. How appropriate for his subdued, aching rendition of "Tracks of My Tears" -- a song about how emotions scar even the toughest fronts.

Allison Ireheta -- "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" -- Allison raises her game by once again emphasizing the rock elements of the song (which risks being same-y) but mixes it up by also riding the song's funk groove. Also the song's father-daughter conflict works well with her youth.

Kris Allen -- "How Sweet It Is" -- Smokey Robinson, this week's guest mentor, looked like he was going to eat Kris like an ice cream cone. Not a surprise. Basically doing the same approach as his version of Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" -- but the arrangement and vocals finally click -- Kris' enthusiasm remains infectious and attractive.

The Bad

Megan Joy -- "Once in My Life" -- All week, I was doing my impersonation of how I thought Megan would sing "My Guy" during for Motown night. It would have been epic. Too bad Megan, like so many contestants, seems to not grasp pop music history. That lack of knowledge leaves the contestants unable to marry the right song (dependent on the genre) with their personalities. That's unfortunate because Megan Joy's personality -- the world dubs it "quirky" -- shines.

Scott MacIntyre -- "You Can't Hurry Love" -- Another inappropriate song choice (Simon rightly said "Reach Out" would have been much more ambitious with better pay-off). Despite this, I'd say it was his best performance yet. It had zip and the vocals were on pitch. He's just too corny. Yet, again, his sense of humor AFTER the performance raised him up a few notches. He apologizes to America for his "pink pants." Since he is almost completely blind, he was just informed of his attire moments before he went on stage. Oh, the possibilities. . .

Matt Giraud -- "Let's Get It On" -- He should have stayed at the piano because he danced like Ricky Braddy when he left his comfort zone. Still, the vocals were strong tonight even though the performance was a snooze.

Anoop Desai -- "Ooh, Baby Baby" -- Every week the judges ask Anoop to be fun. He's always been boring. Second week in a row, I fell asleep in the middle of the song. The notes were all over the place.

Lil Rounds -- "Heatwave" -- Lil Rounds defends her song choice and her rendition by claiming she wanted to do honor to Motown (just like last she wanted to honor Country). Ummmm… since the contestants were limited to Motown songs, the odds of honoring Motown with song choice was about 100%. So the challenge was to pick the right song for her to do. She failed. I have a theory. I suspect she only knows Motown from American Idol. J-Hud sang "Heatwave" back in Season 3. It was the wrong song choice then. It's the wrong song choice now.

The U-G-L-Y (You Ain't Got No Alibi)

Danny Gokey -- "Get Ready" -- Every week, Danny delivers his songs at the same over-the-top level. It gives the songs a wedding-singer desperation that borders on threatening: pointing his finger at the audience when he screams "cuz here I come!" His ugly singing is matched only by his ugly personality. This week, he pretended to agree with Smokey Robinson's advice about changing up the song's call-and-response (Smokey rightly knew that would work with Danny's churchy style). However, come performance time, Danny rejected Smokey's advice. The result: the performance remained within the confines of a karaoke contest. He's not surprising.

Michael Sarver -- "Ain't to Proud to Beg" -- Yet, Michael Sarver again makes Danny Gokey look like a pro. He also doesn't heed Smokey's advice. Unlike Danny Gokey who thinks he's smarter than Smokey, Michael Sarver knows he doesn't have the talent to lay it all on the floor -- like the lovelorn character in the song . . . or like a real singer.

iTunes-worthy: Definitely Adam. Maybe Allison and Kris.

HejiraNYC · #**221** 03-26-2009, 09:39 AM

You would think by now that everyone knows the formula- you need to alter the arrangements drastically from the original version. Every time I hear these "old" songs being played in accordance with the original arrangements, no matter how well the performers sang, I know they are going to be savaged by the judges. If it was originally slow, you need to speed it up. If it was originally fast, you need to slow it down. And in every case, less is more- less instrumentation, less background singing. Adam Lambert knows how this is played. I don't think he is a particularly great singer- there are plenty of better singers on Broadway. He is not particularly good-looking (although many would disagree with me). But he is the ultimate contrarian- different for the sake of being different, and so far it's working! For his own sake, he'd better hope the other contestants do not figure out this strategy, even though one would have to be pretty obtuse not to figure it out.

TrueFaith77 · #**222** 03-26-2009, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

You would think by now that everyone knows the formula- you need to alter the arrangements drastically from the original version. Every time I hear these "old" songs being played in accordance with the original arrangements, no matter how well the performers sang, I know they are going to be savaged by the judges. If it was originally slow, you need to speed it up. If it was originally fast, you need to slow it down. And in every case, less is more- less instrumentation, less background singing. Adam Lambert knows how this is played. I don't think he is a particularly great singer- there are plenty of better singers on Broadway. He is not particularly good-looking (although many would disagree with me). But he is the ultimate contrarian- different for the sake of being different, and so far it's working! For his own sake, he'd better hope the other contestants do not figure out this strategy, even though one would have to be pretty obtuse not to figure it out.

After watching this show for 7 seasons(!), I'm still dumbfounded by how few of the contestants know how to play the game... or even try.

ontheEdgeof17 · #**223** 03-26-2009, 10:33 AM

I loved how Sarver "coughed" at the end of his performance to try to get the "I'm sick and can do better" votes and praises from the judges. Um. No. He just sucks.

I wish him gone tonight.

TrueFaith77 · #**224** 03-26-2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

I loved how Sarver "coughed" at the end of his performance to try to get the "I'm sick and can do better" votes and praises from the judges. Um. No. He just sucks.

I wish him gone tonight.

My bet is that he will go home tonight. I've guessed every single placement/elimination this season, so I'm hoping I got this one too.

That said: the buzz seems to equally favor it being Megan's or Scott's last night.

GoldDustOrphan · #**225** 03-26-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

His ugly singing is matched only by his ugly personality. This week, he pretended to agree with Smokey Robinson's advice about changing up the song's call-and-response (Smokey rightly knew that would work with Danny's churchy style). However, come performance time, Danny rejected Smokey's advice. The result: the performance remained within the confines of a karaoke contest.

I'm glad someone else noticed this giant middle-finger to Smokey Robinson.

(p.s. I'm pulling for Allison. )

Tonight, following the broadcast, Jennifer Hudson is taping a performance to be aired at a later date.

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