Tonight’s top 4 episode is going to be very different from the previous seasons of American Idol. Instead of having the contestants sing two solo songs apiece, they both get one solo song and one duet. Slash, this week’s mentor, has been Twittering about how excited he was for tonight’s Rock theme. Will the contestants live up to his praises?
It’s a good thing that Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is into social networking, because we keep getting these little tidbits on information on his mentor bit for Rock Week. All week, Slash has been helping out the top four Idol contestants Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, and Danny Gokey. At first, Slash was reluctant about taking up the mentoring task, but he finally jumped on board when the producers gave him the freedom to do whatever he wants.
Slash Twittered that, “The contestants from AI picked some really cool songs for next week, thank god!” and that “Those AI kids can sing their asses off, especially Adam.” Apparently, the song list includes classic rock hits from the 70′s and 80′s. And because the judges wanted a new twist to the show, the contestants will be doing solos and duets, rather than two solo songs. Hmmm, sounds like we’re in for some trainwreck performances tomorrow evening.
Slash adds that, “Next week should prove to be very interesting.” Interesting in a good way or a bad way I can’t say, but either way it should be a fun show!
It looks like the judges’ save was totally wasted on Matt Giraud because America voted, and he’s out of the show! Not really very surprising, considering how he was off-key during Rat Pack night. But a quick recap of tonight’s show before we get into the gory details of the elimination.
The show begins with the top 5 coming onstage singing a medley of “I Got Rhythm” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing”, plus Danny and Allison’s birthdays get celebrated with a cake onstage. Then the results begin. Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey are safe, and the bottom three is made up of Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, and Matt Giraud.
The suspense is prolonged when Natalie Cole comes to sing a rather pitchy rendition of “Something’s Gotta Give.” Up next is Taylor Hicks, with his new single, “Seven Mile Breakdown.” Simon looks disgusted.
Kris is declared safe, and Matt and Adam was left in the bottom 2! It wasn’t Adam’s best performance, definitely, but I’m surprised he was left with Matt.
After Jamie Foxx performs “Blame It”, it’s official: Adam Lambert is safe, and Matt Giraud is leaving the show. Like I said, it wasn’t really all that surprising. I wish Anoop had gotten this far into the show in Matt’s place.
The top 5 remaining contestants of American Idol season 8 were looking really sharp as they came up on stage for the Rat Pack theme. What with everyone in the Rat Pack being dead and all, their mentor was a mystery to them, until it was revealed that Jamie Foxx would be helping them out.
Kris Allen – The Way You Look Tonight
The arrangement for this song was pretty traditional, with a band, and pretty. Kris doesn’t have the widest range or the best vocals, but he can definitely interpret a song well. That’s one of his strengths and I think that will take him far. The song gets livelier in the middle and although it did show his limitations, it was still a good performance.
Allison Iraheta – Someone to Watch Over Me
Allison turned 17 the day before, happy birthday to her! Sometimes I forget that she’s so young, because holy crap can this girl sing! Yesterday’s performance just blew me away. She hit a lot of nice notes in the middle, and was overall tender and sweet, despite the sexy edge of her husky voice. I’m not sure if Allison will win the competition, but I think she can make it as far as the top 3.
Matt Giraud – My Funny Valentine
Matt loves jazz so much that he took it up in college, but just because you love something doesn’t mean you’re good at it. He was off-pitch from the start and the phrasing was a little strange. Although he improved as the song went along and hit some big notes, Matt’s performance pales in comparison to the other two – and will probably do so next to Adam and Danny’s. Flawed performance, sucky vocal arrangement – who else thinks that Matt Giraud is next to go?
Danny Gokey – Come Rain Come Shine
My first impression of his performance was that it felt very restrained, but as he went along I realized that this is one of his best vocals ever. He had confidence and swagger, and he handled the melody very creatively. I don’t know if he can win the competition, but one thing’s for sure: he’s not leaving this week.
Adam Lambert – Feeling Good
Can we expect nothing less than a theatrical and drama-filled performance from Adam Lambert? Of course not! Sure, it was a little showy and he held onto his glory notes a bit too long, but he breathes life into this competition like nobody else has. I don’t think it’s his best performance, but it was definitely entertaining – performance-wise and vocally.
According to MJ’s Blog and Top Idol, both excellent sources of American Idol gossip and spoilers, next week’s theme is called “Rat Pack” standards. Basically – anything sung by the Rat Pack, a group of oldie performers including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dean Martin.
Apparently, the song list is going to be short and there’s no new as to whether or not the Idol contestants will be singing two songs instead of one.
Guest performer for the results show is going to be season 5′s American idol, Taylor Hicks, who’ll be singing the single “Seven Mile Breakdown” from his new indie album called The Distance.
Last Thursday night, the American Idol top 7 contestants gathered together at the Dodgers Stadium to throw the first pitch for the Dodgers-Giants baseball game.
Not really the biggest fan of baseball, but I guess this must be a pretty big deal to Americans!
Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta show off the baseball jerseys they all got. Are they called jerseys? And does anyone know what the significance of the number 09 is?
Adam Lambert about to sign a baseball, looking like a rock star.
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.
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