The contestants boogied into disco night last on American Idol.
The notoriously cheesy era of music threatened to do in the still remaining top 7 (thanks to last week’s history making save of Matt Giraud), but thankfully the night was free from any huge disco disasters.
The stakes were raised even higher since last week’s save was cashed in. Two performers will be heading home tonight, so many brought their A game to the table. Others, sadly, continued to prove why they were in danger of going home in the first place.
Song choice was the big focus. Many disco songs come off as painfully karaoke if sang in its true form, so new, fresh arrangements to dull the corny was the smart way to go. The season 8 MVPs like Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen played to their originality strengths and came out on top.
Let’s take a look at how it all went down:
Lil Rounds – I’m Every Woman: When I heard it was disco night, there were two songs I would bet serious money of Lil picking: Last Dance by Donna Summer or I’m Every Woman by Chaka Khan. So, needless to say Lil is becoming more than a bit predictable. And just as predictable as her song choice was the way she’d perform the song. She had some good vocal moments in there–she’s a good singer. Not trying to take away from that. But there is no excitement, nothing refreshing about her performances. (OK, that’s a lie. Her wigs get longer and longer each week.) The judges agreed with Simon capping it off saying, “I absolutely believe this was your final shot.” Agreed!
Kris Allen – She Works Hard For The Money: Thank goodness Kris can sing better than he can describe a song. He picked “She Works Hard For The Money” and said it was “a story about a woman.” Judging from the feminine pronouns, we could all deduce that, Kris. Oh well. All was forgiven when he got on that stage with his guitar and performed his dreamy little heart out. No cheesy disco bells and whistles here. He stripped the song back and delivered an amazing performance. This is exactly what the judges were trying to tell Lil. You don’t have to make yourself fit the song, change the song to fit you. Amazing, Mr. Allen!
Danny Gokey – September: I kinda felt it before, but tonight it was undeniable: The Gokey totally has some Taylor Hicks in him. That’s so not an insult. I was a TH fangirl on season 5. Look, there’s nothing new to say here: Danny is an incredible vocalist. He can sing the alphabet song and I’d buy it off iTunes. He didn’t completely change his song like Kris but he didn’t keep it so original that it bored like Lil. He played it safe with the arrangement, but totally scored with the vocal performance. The judges ate it up, even though Simon thought the overall performance wasn’t so great. Eh. Whatevs! This IS a singing competition, right? Danny will always win base on that.
Allison Iraheta – Hot Stuff: Allison picked a song with the perfect title to describe her performance: HOT STUFF! Allison continued to bring back sweet memories of Kelly Clarkson with her slowed down version of the Donna Summer song with a little rock edge. The vocals…killer, dudes. The girl can sing her face off! The judges were blown away. Simon noted that Allison will always be the underdog, but called her performance “brilliant.” Totally was!
Adam Lambert – If I Can’t Have You: Adam already performed a disco song a couple weeks ago when he performed “Play That Funky Music,” so his choice of “If I Can’t Have You” from one of the biggest disco era movies ever, Saturday Night Fever, was a good choice. Even if he performed it with the original arrangement, it was sure to be an entertaining performance, but Adam completely flipped the song. He slowed the song all the way down and made it a ballad. Huge risk. Monumental pay off. The performance was incredible. From the band, to the light, to the glass-shattering high note, AL was in the zone. Paula still insists Adam will be in the finals and Simon loved the originality and the immaculate vocals. Paula is normally drunken and crazy, but I agree–Adam is a lock for the final two.
Matt Giraud – Staying Alive: I feared for the contestant who’d pick “Staying Alive.” There is no way to do this song without being cheesy. Matt proved me right. Not only was the arrangement messy, but his vocals were so pitchy. His transition from full voice to falsetto was nowhere near smooth. I love Matt and it pains me to say it but this performance did nothing to prove why he was rewarded with the coveted save. I thought I would going to be totally alone in my opinion when Randy, Paula, and Kara swooned over it, but Simon came out to join my team. He didn’t love the arrangement or the vocals. He even called it “a bit desperate.” It’s possible Matt may have only been spared elimination for one week–he’ll be in danger.
Anoop Desai – Dim All The Lights: I’m not really sure what direction Anoop wanted to take his arrangement of “Dim All The Lights.” It started out as a ballad then a soft disco beat came in that maybe should have gotten the dance floor pumping, but it was too slow to do anything with. So that was a bit confusing. On top of that, the vocals weren’t his best. Definitely some great moments — Anoop has an amazing voice and will never completely let me down, but the last note. Wow. Not great. Just as before, Randy, Kara, and Paula loved it, but Simon called it “mediocre at best.” Agreed, but Simon can kick rocks for saying it was his worst performance. No way!
Predictions: Bottom three should be the same as last week: Anoop, Matt, and Lil. As for who’s going home, either of the guys could be in trouble, but I’m not settled on who I think will go. I KNOW Lil’s time is up, though.
See if I’m right when the results show airs tonight!
I loved Kris Allen and Adam Lambert’s performances. I like that they change things around. I also liked Allison’s vocals.
So happy to see Lil gone! No more American Idol hoodrats until next year.
poor Anoop; but at least he is really likable… there’s a lot of other things he can well I’m sure