//American Idol Recap: Anoop Desai And Kris Allen Are Back, Matt Giraud Continues To (Out)Shine//

There’s something about a country music theme night on American Idol that can either make or break a contestant. Many contestants, besides the very few that are true country lovers, go in having very little knowledge of the genre’s songs, so they’re forced to learn brand new songs and perfect them in less than a week. Totally hard to do, but the true Idol rise to the challenge. And rise many of the remaining top 11 contestants did last night on American Idol.

The Idol hopefuls were afforded the opportunity to sing some of the great songs performed by members of the Grand Ole Opry and despite the pre-season promise to focus more on the contestants and less on the weekly mentors, they were coached by the legendary Randy Travis.

Mr. Travis made a formidable coach. He was honest when critiquing or offered solid advice to make the performances better. Most took the advice to heart which resulted in a country theme night that didn’t completely bore like it has in the past.

Let’s take a look at how it all went down!

Michael Sarver – Aint Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up; This should have been Michael’s night. The judges want soul from him, but he’s a country singer all the way. His performance was a fun throw away, but by the end of the night–scratch that, by the third performer I had completely forgotten about Michael’s performance. He’ll need a jolt a personality (and far less back-talk) if he wants to continue.

Allison Iraheta – Blame It On Your Heart: Oh Allison! How I love thee!? This girl knows what works for her. At only 16 years old, she really knows how to pick songs that work for her voice. She mixed rock with country with desirable results. Besides being called “precocious” by Simon, Alli was loved by all.

Kris Allen - Make You Feel My Love: Kris ditched his guitar–even though this seemed like the perfect time to have it unlike last week–and performed this ballad tenderly on a stool in the middle of the stage. He took the less is more approach with the vocals and it paid off. He was pitch perfect and in control. If it wouldn’t get her fired, Paula would have flung her bloomers on the stage at him. He 100% redeemed himself from last week’s brave but pitchy offering.

Lil Rounds – Independence Day: Lil Rounds was the example of what not to do last night. You never let a theme night change who you are. While I was elated she didn’t go the obvious route and choose “I Will Always Love You” or “How Do I Live?” which would have suited her soul voice better, she did nothing with the arrangement of this Martina McBride power-ballad to make it fit her voice. She ended up being swallowed whole by the song.

Adam Lambert – Ring Of Fire: Oh Adam! What can I say? I haven’t always been the crazy AL fan. He just has a way to make me either love or hate him. For the past few weeks, I’ve hated him. His performances are always so over-the-top and dramatic. Who knew that would be exactly what made me LOVE him this week!? His Middle Eastern-flared rendition of “Ring Of Fire” was seen a “weird” by the judges, but it was true to form Adam. Dramatic, artsy, and extremely entertaining. Above all, he showed off his insane vocal range. I’m finally buying into the hype–even if it’s “self-indulgent rubbish” says Simon.

Scott MacIntyre – Wild Angels: Scott is starting to fall into a slump. Sure, I completely disagree with Paula who said he is using his piano as a crutch and should do without it (what does she want him to do? Bust out his best Michael Jackson moves? No thanks!) but my problem with Scott is he’s picking songs that are far too somber and much too forgettable. His performance was good but I have a hard time remembering anything particular that I liked about it. If he doesn’t step it up, he’ll be stepping out.

Alexis Grace – Jolene: It’s been a few weeks. Is Alexis still “dirty” like Xtina? Eh. Seems like her dirty make over is wearing off a bit. Pink hair doesn’t automatically make you edgy, Alexis. The attitude needs to be there. It needed to be there to fully pull off a song like “Jolene,” too. She tried to keep some soul in there but it didn’t really work. It wasn’t as bad as the judges made it out to be, but I won’t be running to iTunes to download it.

Danny Gokey – Jesus Take The Wheel: FINALLY! Someone does a Carrie Underwood song. I only wish I could completely fawn over it, but I can’t. As much as I love Danny, the truth is the beginning was rough. Really rough. I was almost afraid it would never get better, but by the middle things were looking bright. By the end, it was classic blazing hot Danny. The judges ate it up. How can you not!? Danny is a great singer. Now he just needs to work on his wardrobe.

Anoop Desai – Always On My Mind: There are good Idol performances, great Idol performances, and epic Idol performances. This, my friends, was an EPIC performance! Anoop has been the fun loving, get you in a party mood performer since advancing to the major rounds in the competition. That’s great and all, but many of us who fell in love with Anoop Dogg missed hearing him really sing because we know he has one of the best voices in the competition this year. And YESSSS!!! Anoop was back! Everything about his performance was flawless from top to bottom. Sweet falsetto, lush full voice, smooth high notes. It all worked. At that point, I didn’t care who was left. No one could top this.

Megan Joy – Walking After Midnight: While she was being coached by Randy Travis in her prepackaged video, Megan Joy (who is no longer using her last name of Corkrey) seemed to be back on track to being the awesome singer she was in her audition. But when she hit the stage, it was the same awkward, hideous dancing Megan I’ve come to know and shun for the past few weeks. OK, to be fair she is suffering from the flu, so I’ll try to give her a pass, but what does it matter. The judges are trying their best to sway the opinions of the public to keep her around so they can have their very own little Amy Winehouse/Duffy/Adele-like singer. Sorry! She’s just not as good as any of them.

Matt Giraud – So Small: YES! Another Carrie Underwood song, and it happens to be the song she sings to that adorable miniature pony in her Vitamin Water commercial. (Don’t act like I’m the only one loving that ad!) I knew Matt’s position as the closer meant something great was coming, and boy was I right. Matt seems to quietly shine in this competition, but finally the judges are taking notice. Like last week, Matt found a home behind his piano and oozed soul all over the stage. He was finally showered with the praise he deserved by all Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara for his luscious vocals. I guess it doesn’t take dramatics to do well in this competition.

Predictions: Someone has to go home! And with any luck, it’ll be either Michael or Megan. Megan is a long shot and the judges would probably save her, but Michael was first, didn’t perform very well, and may have turned some people off with his sassy back-talk. Bye Mike!

See if I’m right on the results show tonight which will welcome Carrie Underwood back to perform with Brad Paisley and Randy Travis.

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