Best of the night:Â   Allison and Adam–My dream finale.

Flo-Rida and Kellie Pickler perform on Wednesday’s results show.

  • Danny Gokey – “Stand by Me” by Mickey Gilley – VIDEOiTunes
  • Kris Allen – “All She Wants to Do is Dance” by Don Henley – VIDEOiTunes
  • Lil Rounds – “What’s Love Got to Do With It” by Tina Turner – VIDEOiTunes
  • Anoop Desai - “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper – VIDEOiTunes
  • Scott MacIntyre – “The Search is Over” by Survivor – VIDEOiTunes
  • Allison Iraheta - “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt – VIDEOiTunes
  • Matt Giraud - “Part Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder – VIDEOiTunes
  • Adam Lambert – “Mad World” by Tears for Fears – VIDEO iTunes

Who is the bald guy sitting in the audience? (Answer: Guy from Fringe! He sure is Spooky)

Tonight, it’s songs from the year the contestants were born.   We’re also going to see everybody’s baby pics tonight. Awww, Randy is adorable! Kara is all whiny. Paula, what happened to your nose? Simon looks very serious…   Aww, it’s little chubby Ryan

Interviews with the families and baby pictures make up the contestant video packages.

Danny Gokey   – “Stand By Me” by Mickey Gilley – This is a slowed up version. Different than anything that’s been done on the show before. He kicks it up a notch in the chorus. Paula is dancing. This is almost a little jazzy. I have to say, he’s doing a nice job. He’s not shouting, he’s not maudlin–just a happy medium. But, Still not crazy about his super raspy voice–he’s sounding worn.   Ryan says, “I didn’t love the arrangement, but you made me love it.”   Randy calls it a    Kara says, “You turned it on it’s head and you made it your own.”   Paula says, “Everyone else who follows you is going to have to run to catch up.” Simon liked the beginning and end, but thought the middle was lazy. But good overall.    1-866-436-5701

Kris Allen   – “All She Wants To do is Dance” by Don Henley – Kris gets a pimp sit-down.   He went to the beach on his day off. He wanted to be a Taxi driver when he was little. He’s performing with an electric guitar, surrounded in the mosh pit. Ok, I’m not crazy about this arrangement. His vocals are OK, but it’s like he’s singing one thing, and the band is playing another. Very weird.   Kara says, “That kinda felt like jazz-funk homework…it lost a lot of it’s youth.”   Paula says, “You did change it up, you are likable.”   Simon says, “It was indulgent, boring, forgettable…and so am I” Ha ha…   Simon calls it a stupid song choice.    Randy agrees the arrangement was self-indulgent and found himself getting lost in the arrangement and forgetting Kris. 1-866-436-5702

Lil Rounds – “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner – She’s younged herself up like the judges asked.   But her vocals still aren’t killing it.   Ok, she’s improving on the bridge. She’s kinda pitchy on the big note. She’s still pretty “blah”.   Paula says, “You look hot…you’re a brilliant vocalist.” Then Paula calls her karaoke.   Simon calls it a “Ghastly copycat performance…we have lost you…you have got to start becoming original.” Randy says, “It’s almost like, you aren’t listening to us…it’s not clicking.”   Kara says, “You got to find your power in your lower range.” The judges are really slamming her. Lil looks like she’s about to cry. 1-866-436-5703

Anoop Desai – “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper – Aw, Anoop cried a little bit when the Tarheels won. Ryan talks to Anoop about the Kara dust up last week.   Anoop admits that he overreacted last week–an apology. Eating crow to stay out of the B3, for sure. He shares a birthday with D.Cook.  Ãƒâ€š   Nice arrangement–just beautiful. Awesome. Best of the night so far. That last falsetto note–sweet.   He’s back. OK. So maybe Anoop isn’t going to be eliminated tomorrow. Randy says, “You pulled it back…that was a very nice vocal…props to you.”Kara says, “You controlled the song, it didn’t control you, congratulations.”   Paula says, “Great choice of song, flawless…fantastic.” Then she babbles on about colors and crap.   Simon says, “One minute you’re down then you’re up…that was very good, but I don’t think it was fantastic.” Simon says he doesn’t have to apologize. Kumbaya! 1-866-436-5704

Scott MacIntrye – “The Search is Over” by Survivor – LOLz at Scott rawking out with an electric guitar. The guitar playing is so random. Pitchy. Terrible. OW My ears. Scott’s hit trainwreck status.   His worst performance ever. I might take back my Top 5 prediction. Kara says, “I got to commend you for playing your guitar….it’s a difficult song…there were parts I like, parts I thought were over ambitious.”   Paula gives him props for stepping away from the piano.    Paula says his high notes were screechy, but overall “bravo” Huh? Quit patronizing this kid. Scott tells Paula it’s his “punk side” coming out.   Simon tells him the song and guitar playing was atrocious and that he needs to go back to the piano. Randy says, “It was just all OK…it didn’t show you as a star.” 1-866-436-5705

Allison Iraheta – “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – by Bonnie Raitt – Allison, as always, is incredible. Fantastic phrasing, vocals, interpretation. Gorgeous. This is a very grown up song, but somehow, she makes it believable without seeming precocious.   She is a star, people! Paula says, “You just hear one note, and it’s undeniably Allison…you gave all of your heart in this song…same arrangement, but you made it your own.”    Simon says, “I thought that was very good…I don’t think your personality is going over…you’ve got to lighten up.”   Randy compared her to Kelly Clarkson. And says she can sing her face off. Kara says she made the adult content believable and young. Says Kara, “Let’s make a record right now.”   1-866-436-5706

Matt Giraud – “Part Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder – Cute Matt in his grade school play. He’s not behind the piano tonight.   Starts off slow, very slow and bluesy. This is way better than last week. WAY better. Matt seems to have a handle on his nerves, finally–most of the goat is gone. One of Matt’s best. Randy says, “Vocally one of the best of the night.” Kara says, “Incredible on every level”   Paula says, “Two words standing O” Simon says, “A million times better than last week, well done.”   Matt’s back to singing soul. The judges are happy.   The judges are running out of time again. Can’t they pace this show right? 1-866-436-5707

Adam Lambert   – “Mad World” by Tears for Fears – Adam likes to play dress-up. Think he’s hiding anything? Heh. Adam is back in “dialed back” mode. Just Adam in a chair with a hand held mike.   Oooh, he’s making some nice vocal choices here. Haunting. Ethereal.   A very cool interpretation.   Nearly flawless. (it’s a little sharp in the first half–quibbling!) Simon gives Adam a standing ovation. And that’s all they have time for, no other judges comments.   Bruce Gowers, the director, needs to be fired. I swear.   Adam’s version is similar to the Gary Jules version from the movie Donnie Darko. Check it out HERE. 1-866-436-5708

 
  • http://www.youtube.com/user/iamthepurplewalrus purplesmile

    You either hated him or loved him and not much inbetween.

    I was “in between” (silly me even entertained the thought Katharine was going to win, lol) until I saw him live in concert, at which point I loved him. :)

    Until seeing tonight’s show (thank you, mj! i never get to catch it on TV anymore), I thought my AI habit was broken. For some reason, my interest was reawakened last night. I think that Allison performance may be the culprit. I hope she makes it to the top 3, at least. Unfortunately, at this point, I just don’t see her winning.

    I, too, think Adam can/should/would probably win.

  • CRB

    dante Apr 8th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    I think getting the pimp spot last night was a disadvantage.

    Most people tivo or dvr the show – I happened to be watching live for the first time this year thankfully or I would have missed Adam entirely. All my workfrineds DID miss him and they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t go to the internet like I do.

    I was watching the Sharks hockey game (Go Sharks! WHOOT!) and flipping over to scan and watch the performances during commercial breaks (perfect length songs for a two minute commercial, btw) and watched Adam. I didn’t think it lived up to the gushing Internet hype or “Cowell ovation” but such is life on Idol this year. All sizzle, scant steak.

  • downeast

    Sometimes I wonder if Allison wouldn’t have a better shot at this if she was five years older. That way that gin-soaked voice wouldn’t come as such a shock, and they wouldn’t be ragging on her to be something other than what she is–a sweet kid.

    I loved her last night, and always love the timbre of her voice, so her presence in the bottom three when others (cough, Lil-Scott-DANNY-cough) can’t seem to stay on pitch get all loved on…

    it buggeth.

  • Tess

    Allison, like David Archuleta before her, has all the tools to make it in this industry. This is her second “reality singing competition” and she, as did David, took first place. She may not win this thing but I will guarantee you that she will get a recording contract. There is a need for a relevant young rocker chick (and no Miley Cyrus ain’t it…not by a long shot) with a nice alto voice who sings not shouts.

    I’d really like to see her go as far as possible…please send Lil home first…so that she will become a household name before she heads out into the cold cruel world.

  • thedingoateyobaby

    Boy I dont know about Adam winning this thing. Right now I would say yes but he may get a backlash from people who feel as if the judges are favoring him, sort of like what happened to Danny at first.
    Im not sure I even want him to win, Im conflicted.

    Its like, he’s too damn good to win Idol if that makes sense.

    IMO kris should not go home, not even close. It should be Lil or Scott but Scott has a lot of sympathy voting going on and he is adorable where as Lil has failed to bring it every time since she made the grade. I dont know whats going on with her but I think its too late.

    I think also that the judges would definitely save Kris. They know that Danny and Adam have bases that will save them for a bit but Kris may not have that powerful a base and he is really good.

    Its a lot of gibberish from someone who doesnt have a real clue.

  • Kirsten

    Exactly HOW is Adam being OTT pimped? If he does well, what are they supposed to say/do? It really is a sincere question because I respect your opinion and your store of AI knowledge. Just what exactly are the judges doing re Adam- can you be specific?

    Sure.

    1) Adam was one of the “featured” contestants coming into the Top 36. People knew who he was and he had an opportunity to gain a large fan base before the competition even began. He got a lot of screen time. Coming into the top 36, I felt that TPTB’s favourites were Danny, Lil and Adam. My suspicions felt validated when those three were chosen to sing last during the semi-finals. Adam and Danny were also chosen last to sing on semi-final results night despite there being very little chance they would lose to whom they were paired with (Tatiana and Norman). Contestants like Anoop, Michael, Megan and Matt did get some early screen time, but not compared to the “Big Three”

    2) Performance slots. Given attention spans are getting shorter, singing near the end of the show is beneficial. For years, Idol has propped people up by having them sing near the end of the show. Adam almost always sings at the end of the show. The one time he did sing in the first half of the show, he sang 5th out of 11. That’s as late as you can go in the first half and still be in the first half. Somebody asked upthread if singing last is a virtual guarantee of surviving despite how badly you sing? Well, in the early rounds, it seems to be. Only 4 people have got the boot singing last and that’s out of about 100 rounds. Those boots all happened when there were 4 or fewer contestants. If you heard Ramielle in her pimp spot last year, that was all kinds of bad and she sailed through the elimination. There are lots of examples. The last is not always the best of the night.

    3) I didn’t see Country night so I don’t know went down, but there are a few indulgences I think the judges could call Adam on, but they never seem to (unless they did on Country night). The same goes for Gokey who is also pimped (Matt gets good performance slots, but the judges are hot and cold on him). There are a few things that Simon has long hated (overly theatrical, Broadway styling), but for some reason, he suddenly doesn’t care. Seems odd. But, this is the weakest point because reasonable people can easily differ on what they think is good/indulgent/etc. But, it is a little suspicious.

    4) Random judge pimping. The entire speech that Paula did praising Adam last week on results night? Que? Very knollish.

    5) Weird things. Ryan is not very sponteneous. When he sits on his little chair and talks to the kids, he’s all Perry Mason. He knows what answers he’s expecting. I’m sure the questions are practiced in rehearsal. Of all the questions that Ryan can ask Kris he asks one that leads up to “all the world is an Adam fan”? Isn’t there something about Kris we could have learned?

    6) He gets really good lighting. Now, he’s got a theatre background so he knows what to ask for. But, I’m pretty sure that if the producers hated him, they’d screw up the lighting (like Ace when they wanted him gone) to make things look bad.

    7) He’s intro clips always seem so great. Granted, he seems like a great person, but as the Queen/Ace incident showed us, the producers aren’t afraid of Franken-biting you into looking like an a$$ if they want you gone. We got that confirmed from the band itself, not from angry Ace family members (I sound like a huge Ace fan, I’m not, but we got so much evidence that year about the bus that ran over him we almost got the license plate number). Or Danny ignoring Smokey (just don’t include the Smokey tip. Feature some other bit and Danny doesn’t look like a complete jerk).

    The biggest pillar supporting the pimping theory is the performance slots. I don’t buy the ratings thing because I see no evidence supporting that theory (just people’s feelings about it. Unless I’m misreading it, Idol’s ratings fell off a cliff after 9 pm last night. If everybody wanted to see Adam, they would have stayed tuned. Overnights do not measure Tivo/VCR/time shifting, so, that couldn’t be it. In any event, ratings are down this year, so I’m not sure we can prove he is a ratings messiah. There is a long history of performance slot favourtism and and I don’t see why this year should be any different).

    The other, points, taken in isolation, you could probably pick apart. But put together, I think they make a convincing argument that the producers like him. I am not blaming Adam. I do not hate Adam. I just wish the producers would trust him a little and calm down a little. At least let us think it’s a competition.

  • hcpoirot

    I want to see Adam sing the first three spot next week in TOp 7. Cause I am just curious if they put Adam first half of the show, will the RATING suffer then they already had?

    Will the rating stay the same like now? Or will it collaps even more and Dancing With The Stars will take over the lead for the first time in so many years?

    Will the producer try this? Put Danny and Lil Rounds last and Adam first in top 7?

  • hcpoirot

    If Kris went home tomorrow, Judges will save him if:

    - The producers calculate that Adam, Danny and Allison votes percentages were high enough to save them from double elimination.

    Translate: Three of them had to had enough votes to being in top 6 next week in double elimination.

    Adam and Danny will 100% in top 6 vote getters. I doubt about Allison. One mediocre performance and she may be in bottom of the votes. Just like Kris this week.

  • http://myspace.com/susanatfox sumidol

    “Until seeing tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s show (thank you, mj! i never get to catch it on TV anymore), I thought my AI habit was broken. For some reason, my interest was reawakened last night. I think that Allison performance may be the culprit. I hope she makes it to the top 3, at least. Unfortunately, at this point, I just donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see her winning.

    I, too, think Adam can/should/would probably win.”

    Awwwwww – it is sooooo nice to see you back!!!!!!

  • http://myspace.com/susanatfox sumidol

    “Exactly HOW is Adam being OTT pimped? If he does well, what are they supposed to say/do? It really is a sincere question because I respect your opinion and your store of AI knowledge. Just what exactly are the judges doing re Adam- can you be specific?”

    Oh lordy you asked for it and got it and then some – lol – I just disagree that they would call the pimped one overindulgent and horrible a couple of weeks ago, Adam is doin his own pimping performance by performance. TPTB’s pimpee’s this year have changed week to week it seems with Danny still their # 1 – he was good last night, I liked him a lot but he did not deserve all that smoke up his butt – he is still their favorite to win

  • undercooked

    I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see Country night so I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know went down, but there are a few indulgences I think the judges could call Adam on, but they never seem to (unless they did on Country night).

    Oh, you missed a goody. Randy and Paula liked Adam’s performance of Ring of Fire and compared it to Led Zeplin and Kara said it made her feel weird and happy. But Simon said to Adam “what the hell was that?” He also said it was horrific and that people would be throwing their televisions out the window. Ryan asked Simon the next night if he still felt that way about Adam’s ROF, and Simon said he still thought it was horrible.

    Adam didn’t talk back and stood there on performance night. And on results night, when Ryan brought it up again how horrible Simon thought it was, Adam laughed at himself.

    Plus you missed the complete awkward mentoring by Randy Travis, who said “I never did see a guy wearing nail polish” followed by “I guess you don’t plan on going to Nashville” to “I don’t know what to make of this guy.”

    Overall it was not a pretty night. Adam dropped to #6 on Dial Idol even though he was in the green.

  • seattle_girl

    I wish I could drink the Adam Kool-Aid cause then obviously Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d be enjoying this season more :)

    Oh Michelle, save some for me too. :drunk_tb:

  • Layla

    Thanks Kirsten for breaking it down for me-appreciate it.

    I guess, if Adam is being pimped, Simon & Co must be seeing dollar signs, which I hope means that the pimpage is based on the fact they think he is mega-talented.

    I would think that their pimping of Danny (which they do- big time) would be more in line with what they would want from the winner. I would imagine they would almost be a little nervous about Adam being a “loose canon”…he doesn’t exactly fit into what middle America would spend their bucks on. He must seem to be a bit of a risky venture for them.

    And yeah…Adam’s ROF on country night frightened the shit out of a lot of people…including Simon who did not hesitate to give his very negative critique. I thought it was bloody brilliant.

  • weareallinnocent

    LOL undercooked, great recap. You did leave out the part where Simon called Adam’s RoF horrific indulgent rubbish. But otherwise, you got it! :-)

    So yeah, when reasonable minds could differ about Adam’s performance, Simon slammed him, then kicked him and beat on him some more.

    Personally, I think they yanked his chain a little with PTFM too, since we learned that he had to switch songs the Monday before the Tuesday performance. Maybe it was a way to test his mettle, maybe they wanted a meh performance, maybe they assumed a disaster given the song and Taylor’s prior cheesefest. But as I said before, Adam stepped up and refused to suck. LOL

    Anyway, there’s no denying that Adam is popular and well-liked, and why shouldn’t he be? I think he has enough “stuff” to bring him down, being tossed about gently (?) in the media and what have you. If TPTB are doing as some suspect, maybe that’s part of it, ya know? It’s not that they don’t trust Adam, but rather they don’t trust America (and certain of its longheld hot-button prejudices…)

    In the end, I believe Adam totally has the mad talent to bring this one home on his own. And, I don’t think that he should hear otherwise if his performances are good. So great reviews for great performances can’t form the basis of overpimping, imo. YMMV

  • tinawina

    Every year they pimp someone, and every year the pimpee gets a huge backlash for it. I say 6 of one half dozen of the other with the pimping.

  • Tess

    Considering the fact that Adam comes from a theatrical background (a tremendous no-no in Idoldom), that he flies a “freak” flag proudly, that he got something like 5 minutes of airtime prior to the top 36 (I actually counted it because everyone said he got so much air time), that he isn’t “boxable” as far as singing style, that glam-rock is so 70′s……why the heck would Idol want to pimp him?

    In my very humble opinion Adam has crawled and scratched his way up the ladder on Idol with his terrific personality, his great demeanor, and his awesome talent. Other than being given “good” spots in the performance order he hasn’t received anything special from idol that many of the other performers have. It’s easy to say that Adam is where he is because of Idol pimpage rather than to be honest and say that the man has proven himself and swayed the voters with his immense talent and enthusiasm. Geesh!

  • annoula

    Anoops apology was just a little too late, he showed his true evil self last week and people saw that I think and it creeped them out-

    There’s a lot of comments out there about how people don’t “get” Adam; well, I don’t “get” how Anoop looking at Kara as if she were insane makes him “evil.” Kara, with the exception of yesterday, has made the most ridiculous comments in the short time she’s been here. Simon and Paula have shown complete disrespect for all the contestants. Even if I got up there and they praised my performance, I would give them the so-called “evil” look because they haven’t shown me a reason to respect them.

    Try to think of a teacher you’ve had who played favorites or was unorganized. Did you respect that teacher? Were you more tempted to act up in his/her class or not take it seriously?

    I know, I know, it’s show business, not school. However, there’s some basic concepts of human decency and interaction that have been thrown out the window this season. The false praising. The lack of attention. The blatantly unrealistic deliberation. If I were a contestant on the show, I’d be fed up, but still torn between throwing it all away or fighting to win.

    All in all, I’d rather see Anoop’s honest and logical reaction to the judges than the lies pushed on us by this show.

  • grapehaus

    I just had to say – that picture of little Adam with the cowboy hat? my heart melts alittle each time I see it.

  • http://myspace.com/susanatfox sumidol

    “Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a lot of comments out there about how people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“getà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Adam; well, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“getà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  how Anoop looking at Kara as if she were insane makes him à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“evil.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Kara, with the exception of yesterday, has made the most ”

    I corrected that and I apologize I dont know him from a hole in the wall, I doubt he is evil but he LOOKED evil and it just made him ugly to me, it was a scary look maybe more than evil – I dont think the others have stood up there and should be perceived as liars by being silent or agreeing with the judges – they just have manners and were taught not to talk back for the most part, I think. Heck, I dont know him at all but I sure felt something that wasnt very nice at all, no one should kiss anyones butt or brown nose, speak your mind if you feel the need just be polite and dont look like you want to actually kill someone and people will be more open and accepting of you and this is show biz and you gots to somewhat, play the game to stay in it, to win it.

  • g0dsavethequ33n

    reposting in hopes that adam will see this…

    For disco night, ADAM SHOULD TACKLE GEORGE BENSONà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢S à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“LOVE BALLADà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP8XqK6C7wc)!!

    He can have tender moments with the first part (it’s time for some slow) and display his great low tones at the same time. Then he can kick up the tempo with the second part and have mad fun the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“glambertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  way! This performance will (1) definitely stand out from the rest and catch everyone by surprise (again), (2) showcase his wide vocal range without compromising the high falsettos he loves to hit, (3) appeal to a wide audience!

    If not à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Love Balladà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , then Rod Stewartà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Do You Think Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m Sexyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  or George Bensonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Give Me the Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ . McFadden & Whiteheadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ainà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t No Stoppinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  or Sophie Bextorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Murder on the Dancefloorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  (re-arrange and pull out killer moves) might prove interesting.

    Him performing Diana Rossà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m Coming Outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  would be hilarious! Ha. Bill O’Reilly would have a heart attack:)

    Bottom line, though: Adam Lambert – Love Ballad.

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  • hankjmatt

    TPTB’s pimpee’s this year have changed week to week it seems with Danny still their # 1 – he was good last night, I liked him a lot but he did not deserve all that smoke up his butt – he is still their favorite to win.
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  • christina1

    Simons standing on huge off his new pair of jeans. but he looks silly on it. student loan