American Idol iTunes Top 3 Performances and Videos Now Available on iTunes

I like Heartless. It’s a little weird in a ballad style, but it’s still cool. And Kris says “homies”! . I kinda don’t like how when he hits the high note on the first verse, he’s recorded singing the chorus, it sounds weird >_>. The verse-chorus-verse transitions could’ve been better, IMO, but this is still better than Kanye, and it’s pretty unique.

Wow! Just purchased the singles for One and Crying’ from iTunes. Freaking awsome!!! Anyone who did not like the way One was arranged on Tuesday night should take a listen. GO ADAM!

Wow! Just purchased the singles for One and Cryingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ from iTunes. Freaking awsome!!!

I just bought them too, and I TOTALLY agree! The shortened versions plus the lousy background vocal on Cryin’ really hurt his performance of those songs last night. I almost didn’t download them because of that, but I am SO glad I did. They are wonderful! What a tremendous recording voice he has! I’m sure he’s going to make a great “must have” album after all of this!!!!!!!!!!!

Heartless just won Kris the competition. I picked him in the pool at Top 13, and I said eight weeks ago that I’d be stunned if Kris didn’t win it all. But that performance put him in the finale and probably sealed the deal. The single’s great, too. Just imagine what he’ll be able to do with TWO personal picks next week. Can’t wait for the finale!

the studio version of ‘One’ is so beautiful. much better in the longer version. although i do wish i could watch him sing the whole thing so you get the full emotional effect. ‘Cryin’ is awesome too.

…just downloaded all of Adam and Kris’s songs… gonna make a CD to get me through the week until the finale!

I was really looking forward to the full version of “Heartless”, but the goopy elevator music that they’ve added to it wrecks it for me. I hope they can do better than this for Kris on an album. On the other hand, I think the full version of One works so much better than the clipped performance night version – it’s got everything that I had wanted from the performance.

They totally nerfed “Heartless” by adding a damn band to it.

One and Cryin’ are awesome!! As expected, the problem of the live performance (too short, felt clipped, no buildup etc.) was fixed by the over 4 minute recording. It’s just beautiful. Bono would approve!!
As for Cryin’, what can i say? It’s Adam in his comfort zone. Its perfect. Steven Tyler would be proud

I love One too. I have been playing it on constant repeat for almost a day now. Can’t get enough, truly genius.

You guys are right, ‘One’ and ‘Heartless’ are great. I don’t know why they didn’t come across as well on Tuesday. Maybe because of the lighting and the sound…(I wanted to strangle the backup singer)

I just read that Kris and Adam tossed a coin to see who goes first next week. Kris won the coin toss and elected to have Adam go first. I think that is a bad move on his part, last time Adam went first for ‘whole lotta love’ everyone else’s songs seemed lame…I like Kris, but Adam is the better singer with the most talent and charisma.

It seems people outside the US cannot buy the AI-songs yet. :wallbash_tb:
I hope they will be available eventually, I am chained to my computer when I want to hear Adam’s songs which is 24h a day and my iPod is filled with songs I haven’t listened to in months.

I heard the Cryin and One studio versions today. :wub_tb: How about singing Cryin again in the finale without backup singers? Just so people can hear that note at 2:31-2:32. Sweet :cool1_tb:

Wow, they really ruined Heartlesss with the cheesy strings and that was the only one I was going to buy. Guess I’ll have to buy the video!

one and cryin are brilliant, as is adam lambert. i have all his songs on my ipod..all are completely different with different ranges and different phrasing and his range is ridiculous, he is truly an amazing talent.

I had One on repeat all night. Exquisite. I loved it so much that I haven’t even given Crying a listen. Gonna do it now.

One is amazing. OMG.

“Heartless” is pretty cool as a ballad but would have been so much better without the freaking band. UGH.

I think I like “Apologize” more.

I am so disappointed with Heartless. How can they take the best song (in my opinion) and ruin it with the stupid background music? Why couldn’t they just have done a simple guitar like performance night?

I’m going to have to download One now, since everyone is praising it to the skies. I didn’t like it live, at least the second half, but maybe this will be better.

ETA: I just wanted to say that Heartless still is incredible in terms of Kris’ voice and interpretation.

Also, just downloaded One, and yes, it IS much better than the live performance. There’s less changing the melody, and when Adam gets “dramatic” it sounds more heartfelt and connected than he did in the live performance.

One more thing: it’s so much fun talking about the contestants without having the shadow of bitterness about people who, in my opinion, did not deserve to be there.

Heartless is grooving! The pure acoustic version with no production junk was amazing, but it’s worth the tradeoff to get the full length version

Man, Kris’ recording voice is great. And jeez, I actually really like the song in this version. He totally uncovered the bones of the song underneath the Autotune in the original. I’ve been singing it all morning.

Yeah, for an actual record, Kris is gonna have to get himself a decent producer that won’t smother him in uncool studio cheese.

Think I’m gonna have to get One, even though it felt cut off at the knees on tv.

Wow! The studio version of One is amazing!

Noticed a thread on another blog suggesting obadiah parker’s cover of Hey Ya (on youtube -4 million hits!) as a 3rd song choice for Adam (other choices being a power ballad and a rocker of course). I think it is a great call -thanks tristessa -and Adam could out-Kris Kris with it. What does anyone else think?

Holy shit, the studio version of Cryin” is kickin’.

What a disservice they do the Idols as well as the songs they choose when they abbreviate the performance. Thisshould have been the week they were allowed to sing the whole effing song. Idol is so fucked up and yet, with all of its flaws its the bomb.

You are so right dingo, and Cryin’ shows how good he actually IS at rock.

I have to give props to whoever does these arrangements in a very short time, but it doesn’t allow for much creativity. Heartless didn’t need the muzak arrangement; if they didn’t want solo guitar they could have had a small number of other acoustic instruments (as in the live performance of She Works Hard For The Money). Anyway the vocal is really good and he brings a lot of feeling to anything he sings (Apologize is also very good).

Attention!!!! All Glamberts, congratulation on putting our Adam in the finale, your voting paid off (pat on the back) today i am so happy and relieved, last last night i nearly got a freaking heart attack, Ai shouldn’t play those games with people it can be fatal.
i believed that Danny deserve the top 2 more than Kris, Danny has been more consistant than Kris throughout the competition, kris did ‘heartless’ and i don’t get the whole hype about that song, its not that good people get over it!!!, besides Kris is no match for my sweet Adam, Danny would have been better, now we all know that Adam will crush the competition, whats fun in that, i guess it will all come down to who’s more popular and gets the more votes.

I like Kris but i really don’t think he got what it takes to survive in the music world, he will be just another singer, but Adam will be a super star people will go crazy for his performances his concerts will be sold out and he will sell a million CD in one week and 100 million worldwide. To the international fans like me Adam is like the new Micheal Jackson with better vocals and we have been waiting so long for a performer like Adam to come along, unlike Americans we prefer a showman some one who can make us feel crazy and wild and Adam make me go wild, believe me i literally can’t control myself when i see him on Ai.

So next week will be the craziest night in television history, people will be glued to the screens, sweating/panicking/ anxious/ hoping to see Adam in all his glory, i want to see some pelvic thrust/lip biting/lip licking and all that Adam got to offer, ‘no holding back Adam don’t care if they hate you or love you, your fans are going nowhere’.

Glamberts and Lambertans let the party begins, you Have to Rock the Votes for Adam next Tuesday no holding back, get the casual fans together set up a voting party ,everyone must atleast put in 5000 vote text included, there must be voting parties in every cites,town i mean everywhere!!!!!!.

Americans the world is watching you and we are depending on you to give us Adam lambert as our idol, don’t let him slip through your fingers, lets see you live up to your Greatness, i dare you…..

Man, Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ recording voice is great. And jeez, I actually really like the song in this version. He totally uncovered the bones of the song underneath the Autotune in the original. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve been singing it all morning.

I’ve been singing “Heartless” ALL DAY. My sister is so annoyed.

Yeah, the band is a bit weird for Heartless, but if anything, the vocal is amazing. I do like the band on it, it sounds strange at first but I got used to it and think it still sounds pretty awesome. Then again, I do like this Muzak stuff X_X

I’ll probably check out One and Cryin’, although neither really is my cup of tea. Though, if One is really not blathering gibberish like the performance was (Adam’s style was overdone to the point where I couldn’t really understand a word or got really lost in it), then it might be one awesome studio performance. Then again, it’s coming from people who have Adam-biased usernames, no offense.

I dunno about Apologize, the piano seemed a bit too loud in the preview. And I’m not worried about these things for when Kris decides to make an album, he’ll most likely have more liberty to arrange them himself. I don’t really think the Muzak style of Heartless was totally on him. She Works Hard For The Money also had a good studio version, but I was disappointed in the lack of bongo drums. Still sounds like a completely Kris-ized song once you get past the somewhat loud band.

And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not worried about these things for when Kris decides to make an album, heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll most likely have more liberty to arrange them himself.

Hope so, because I think his arrangements are better. Guess I don’t get why the studio versions should be changed up so much, unless it’s to get people to buy them to hear the big differences.

OMG guysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦just check out Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s studio on Heartlessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.*tears rolling* B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuFsV-ZtSQI

:cry_wp:

I still don’t like Adam singing “One” – the high,soft vocals don’t work with the original arrangement & instrumentation for me – I think it needs more oomph in the verses – it kind of sounds slurred and moan-y to me at times. I kind of doubt that this is the musical direction he’ll take, so it’s no big deal.

Kris’ Heartless was good (although there are better acoustic versions out there) and I was really looking forward to hearing the whole thing. However, I don’t like his voice enough to listen to it over Muzak. I listened to Apologize and I could barely hear him singing. I’m sure he’ll shine once he gets signed by RCA or Arista or whoever and doesn’t have to deal with these cheap ass recordings.

Adam’s studios from this week are way better, mainly because you can hear him without all the horrible backup singers and terrible band in the live performance (not his fault), and he didn’t have to make them too short (as everyone’s already said).

Kris’s Apologize studio is better than the Heartless. Heartless is overproduced — it should’ve been done exactly how he did it live. It seems like AI never allows the studios to be done that way. They always feel the need to add too much in the bg.

I’m just excited about this finale though!

Ok, I didn’t even Bother downloading Danny’s stuff. I mean, what’s the point? It isn’t contemporary and it cannot hold a candle to either Adam or Kris’ chops in the studios.

I did, however, download the others. From best to worse.

1. “One” – Adam Lambert – Seriously…WAY better than the live version, which is commonly true for Adam. The judges and producers recognize he is a studio gem. This take on the U2 classic is thoughtful and powerful, and highlights Adam’s strengths.

2. “Cryin’” – Adam Lambert – Not a fan of the original song, but for a recording of a “meh” song, it was still top notch. Again, this guy can rock a studio. He has a major recording career ahead of him, with the right original material, that is.

3. “Apologize” – Kris Allen – No, he didn’t do much that was different with the original here, but I like the vocal better than the original. It fits his style well. Not sure how powerful Kris will ever be in a studio recording. He is more of an “intimate evening with Kris Allen” sort of artist.

4. “Heartless” – Kris Allen – This is the worst recording for Kris. It is OK, yes, but let’s get real. He is a great live performer, not a studio musician. The magic of his live performance is gone and replaced with a schmaltzy quality reserved for sensitive fart-knuckles who are trying to get into the panties of a naive college co-ed sitting under a willow tree on a campus quad. Wasted a buck here.

I like both contestants (Adam more, but that is my style and he is “family”.)
I don’t care who wins, really. Even if Kris wins, Adam still steals his thunder for the next year. Kris will be end up ditching his contract with 19E after a year of respectable but underwhelming record sales. He will take his act into Christian music, and will actually be quite successful, I think. He can be the Mraz or Bon Iver for the bible-toting youngin’.

I’ll add to the pile on of “One” and “Cryin’” lovers! (And, I have a David Cook biased username. LOL)

I’m a happy, happy camper!

Now, having said that, I really, really loved the strength of his conviction and connection in the live version of “One” (yes, one of a small minority, it seems ) so I wish I had a longer than 1:40 live performance too! But, I do so love Adam in the studio where he has the time needed to “tell a story” through musical interpretation and impeccable use of his tremendous vocals!!

I’m so happy to have two peeps in the finale who I really like! Yay!!

WHHHHHAAAAAATT!!!???! Kris’s studio of Heartless was one of his BETTER recordings!! It was extremely sexy and had a easy-listening bluesy vibe to it! This time Bandzilla didn’t overpower his vocals unlikes some of his OTHER recordings like She works hard for money and ain’t no sunshine.

I simply, simply, adored BOTH the live and STUDIO of Heartless….

Adam’s studios of One and Cryin are AWESOME, especially One. The problem with Adam’s live performances isn’t the fact that he changes them up from his stuidios, which is what you should do when you’re entertaining…. But they are toooooooooooooooo short!! I wish they could sing the whole song on performance night.

Heartless was ok. I just can’t stay awake with Kris. He’s just boring to me. I’m glad the two of them are in the finale though. their families seem friends just like the two of them. They were roommates and everything. It should be a nice finale.

Man, my Adam Lambert CD keeps right on growing. Both One and Crying are wonderful additions. Adam is always so much better when he gets a little time to really interpret a song….a minute 40 just doesn’t cut it when he can do so many different things with his voice. He really has the talent to move a song along and to use his great range and phrasing ability.

Adam’s studio versions are just amazing…… Great version of One. just awesome.
Not sure why the live performance was not as good – maybe nerves finally are catching up with him?

OMG guysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦just check out Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s studio on Heartlessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.*tears rolling* B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L!!!!!!!!

Errrm, yeah, just not liking it. To be fair, I did not like it on Tuesday either. Just not my style of music.

I think “One” is awesome and I love, love “Cryin”.

Apologize — nice to hear Kris’ falsetto and his recording voice is lovely as always, but I really think the vocal track should have been brought up a little more. He’s drowned out behind the production. I think he changed up the piano line subtly and added some little vocal flourishes to make it different from the original.

Heartless — I preferred the live stripped-to-the-bone version, which had more edge to it. The studio version is very…uh, Colbie Caillat? Too mellow. Still, pretty hilarious to hear Kris singing “homies” But I’d recommend the vid of the live performance over the studio track. (unless you are completist and need the whole Kris collection like meeeee)

Dang, Adam’s Studio version of One is the one I’d have enjoyed on the stage. Is it me, or his rock wail is more subdued here compared to the live version?

Swaying to Crying studion version even as I type. I’ve got mild Paula-itis. Haven’t progressed to getting off my seat yet, fortunately.

Okay, now for Kris’ Apologize – what’s with the ‘oh-woh’ intro? Wonder if he played the piano himself. Piano was a bit too loud. I still don’t think he has the range for it, tho’, and that he ought to sing it in a lower key.

Heartless – preferred the unplugged live version. More raw and stronger angst in the live version, which suits the song just fine. The studio version just comes off as polished and bland.

Since Danny has been eliminated, I’m now feeling more kindly towards him, listened to YASB, since it’s a nice song. Well…it’s nice and listenable, but sounds like lounge singer style to me at first, then went into sore throaty screeching near the end. I appreciate the additional lyrics for his wife tho’. Did you hear the toned down version of The Scream, where they put it as a echo around the 2.49 mark? Sorry Danny, the studio producers din do you any favours by doing that. Take good care of your voice, Danny Dude, you’ve got a good one, don’t abuse your gift. Take care. See you in the Finale with the other contestants. :happy_tb:

Just my opinions of the songs, YMMV.

Adam’s studio version of One is so much better than the live. And I have no bias in my name whatsoever

I actually prefer Kris’s studio version of ‘Apologize’ to the original. And I’ve always loved the original. :happy_tb:

I do agree that the studio version of ‘Heartless’ was overproduced, and I kept wanting the tempo to pick up a bit. But it’s still worth the download, IMO.

Call me crazy, but doesn’t anyone familiar with film think it is time for a big revival of “Bye Bye Birdie”, with Adam as Conrad? I mean, like a suped-up balls to the wall killer rock remake?

Jennifer Hudson isn’t the only one who could get an Oscar.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Of course, it could end up like a silly Elvis film…

…never mind…

Hey, mj, this is the first time I’ve had the money…or really the desire…to buy any singles. I have a question about the widget/ link.

Do I need to click separately for each song, or will you get credit for all the songs I buy after I click on the link to open iTunes? I want to go back and get a couple of Matt Giraud’s, Anoop’s, Allison’s, and older Kris tunes too, and I want to make sure you get the ‘hits’ for all of them.

I’m also guessing I’m the only one around here who thinks Adam’s vocals are way too affected on his studio recordings? I’m kind of sadden and shocked by some of his choices. Oh well….flame on people. I like his live vocals fine, but if it makes you feel better tell me how “wrong” I am in my subjective opinion…

…and to add kindle to the fire, I like both the live and studio versions of Heartless, but for different reasons. The studio version is much…smoother than I expected, but nice. Given the obvious handicap of Idol production values, that us.

Love “One” and “Cryin’” way more in the studio versions!

With “Apologize” Kris proved that if he gets a well written song it can become a huge hit because he’s just as talented, if not more than One Republic.

But why can’t they just leave “Heartless” acoustic??? Not having the band made the song so great (Plus kris’s arrangement and vocals) I hope next week for the finale Kris has none/zero songs with the band!

I love, love, love Adam’s version of One! So different from the original version. I just think on the show he went back to forcing the emotion and moving it along too quickly. He’s got to watch out for that, but I guess it will not be an issue when he can do full versions of songs.

All these songs would be improved by replacing Rickey and his Elevator Wizards with a real band.

YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL – I confess that when my local station played the TV version , I got a little moisty around the edges. I want to know if he found a version that includes the heartfelt “You changed a boy into a man” coda/tag.. there’s gotta be more to the story. No one’s found where he got this version yet? I don’t like all the tricks in the bag, but for the most part it’s very touching. Grade: A-

DANCE LITTLE SISTER – Danny Gokey. Paula obviously picked the song for the visual performance aspects, since there’s not much of a melody going on. Grade: B

HEARTLESS – Kris Allen. Kris reworked the hip-hop hit into a contemporary acoustic light rocker that got him into the finals. This version is even more mellow, with a piano/strings easy rock beat. A little too mellow, but who knew that under Kanye’s bombast lay a damn fine song, with changes and bridges and all those things that are hard to find in current hit records. Grade: A

APOLOGIZE – Kris Allen. Another elevator friendly arrangement of a current hit song. But a boring one, “it’s too late to apologize” over and over and over.. If Kara was such a great songwriter, she should have found something with more meat on the bones as her choice for Kris. Grade: B

CRYIN – Adam Lambert. This would have been so much better last week with Slash than here with the Elevator Wizards. Too much brass and noise competing with the vocal. Fortunately the horrid backup singer stayed home on recording session day. I would also have slowed down the tempo for a more bluesy take. For the most part, Adam’s performance is in the mid-range register, not overdoing (for my taste) and he’s obviously enjoying himself very much. If he makes records like this, I might actually download some. Grade: A

ONE – Adam Lambert. After replaying the TV version yesterday afternoon, I figured out what bugged me. This is one of the most brilliant iconic songs of the past 25 years, and what does it is the hypnotic slow-building seething tension that doesn’t explode until the climactic “Love is the Higher Law”. To condense this into 1:40, one verse leaping to tall building height climax is just wrong. Adam’s passion was as real as I’ve seen it all year, but the song didn’t work for me much at all.

On the recording Adam has 4:28 to build from, I would say he’s too sweet for the first two-thirds. The tension and angst aren’t there. He has said he doesn’t really know the song or follow U2, and I think that’s the problem, the song and its drives, its pulses, its essential rhythms and flow don’t belong to him, not at this time. To successfully rework a song, you need first to live in it then have a vision. ONE isn’t Adam’s vision, at least not a complete one. GRADE: B-

One and Cryin are definitely the best!! I haven’t stopped playing these yet since I downloaded them.

On the recording Adam has 4:28 to build from, I would say heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s too sweet for the first two-thirds. The tension and angst arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t there. He has said he doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really know the song or follow U2, and I think thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the problem, the song and its drives, its pulses, its essential rhythms and flow donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t belong to him, not at this time. To successfully rework a song, you need first to live in it then have a vision. ONE isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Adamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vision, at least not a complete one. GRADE: B-

Are you a music critic wannabe? WTF? Sorry, but Bono sang this song in a “matter-of-fact” way for 80% of this song and it always bugged me knowing how passionately he has sung other songs. Adam did a damn fine job of singing this one and with feeling.

ok – NOW I LOVE ONE – so much better than original pure and just beautiful vocals, as usual, of course but I keep playing over and over. Love Cryin

Margaux, you are too cute with you little grading system each week, lol – I wish I had that much time to do all that research, but, glad others do it for me.

I love One but upon repetitive listening – Cryin: FLOVE!!!!

Maybe I could not listen too much of a message song??