Last night, the American Idol contestants picked out songs from movies and were mentored by film director Quentin Tarantino. I was a little disappointed when I saw how nice Quentin was being to the kids and despite his good advice, my worst fears were confirmed – it was a crappy night all in all. In my opinion, the best performers were Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Allison Iraheta, and Kris Allen; everyone else was pitchy and painful to watch.
Allison Iraheta – I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing by Aerosmith from Armaggedon
I’m not the biggest fan of this song and maybe that’s why this isn’t my favorite Allison Iraheta performance. But it’s also because she’s better when she sings soft sweet songs; this one was a bit low for her range and had too many glory notes. Simon finally showed her some love tonight, I’m surprised he hadn’t noticed her in her previous performances!
Anoop Desai – Everything I Do by Brian Adams from Robin Hood
This song was from Robin Hood? Really? In any case, Anoop really killed everyone with this song. It didn’t quite go as roughly as Quentin would have liked, but he had the audience’s attention, his vocals were solid, and there was so much soul and emotion – but not too much.
Adam Lambert – Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf from Easy Rider
I think this would have been the perfect time for Adam to whip out Mad World (from Donnie Darko) but in any case, I really liked this one. The arrangement was excellent and while I’m not the biggest fan of his rock wail, it wasn’t overused tonight – except maybe for the last part. But overall, very entertaining performance. Steppenwolf purists probably won’t like it, but what’s the point of doing covers if it’ll just sound like the original?
Matt Giraud – Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman by Brian Adams from Don Juan
Ooh, the second Brian Adams song tonight. But it wasn’t all that great – pitchy, a little off-key, plus Matt didn’t do enough to bring the song to life like he did last week. Not that he didn’t try, because I could see that he did – but maybe he was trying too hard. I think Matt may be in danger of leaving the show.
Danny Gokey – Endless Love by Diana Ross from Endless Love
At first, Danny’s performance looked promising – he wasn’t wearing glasses for once, and there was a harp onstage. Unfortunately that’s about as interesting as it got. He went off-key, he was treating the song too roughly, and it even looked like he was crying at some point.
Kris Allen – Falling Slowly by Glen Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from Once
Ooh I love this movie and this song was one of my favorites, and I was so happy that Kris did a real beautiful job with it. Delicate phrasing, sweet vocals, beautiful falsetto…I have never really been the biggest Kris Allen fan and I always thought he was kind of meh. But tonight I loved him. I absolutely loved him. Hands down the best performance of the evening!!!
Lil Rounds – The Rose by Bette Midler from The Rose
Oh dear, Lil hasn’t been improving much. Her performance was anti-climactic after that beautiful rendition by Kris. Very pitchy, and her runs were painful to listen to. I hate to have to admit it, but Lil Rounds just isn’t all that great anymore. I have a feeling she’ll end up on the bottom 3 along with Matt.
