Bottom 3 – Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud, Lil Rounds
Going Home – Matt Giraud or Anoop Desai
ETA: How could I forget the save? The judges have two more weeks to use it. Tonight might be the night. I think everybody has a shot–but Allison (finally getting some Simon love) and Kris (he’s well-liked and consistent) have the best chance.
I think one of the soul boys is going home tonight. I picked Anoop Desai in the Idoltracker buzzmeter and found myself alone in a sea of Lil Rounds and Matt Giraud picks. Eep.
Here’s my thinking. Lil isn’t going home, because not only did she have the pimp spot, but Simon laid into her pretty good. She might have gotten some pity votes, despite talking back to Simon. And, of course, she’s Vote for the Worst’s new pic.
But then again, the show ran over AGAIN (WTF?!!?) despite fewer judges critiques, so many may have missed her tussle with Simon. Still, don’t think she’s going home this week.
Matt had easily one of the worst performances of the night, but Randy and Kara’s harsh critique may have motivated his fan base and elicited some pity votes from casual viewers. Oh, that’s right. Nobody listens to Kara and Randy. My bad.
On the other hand, there’s Anoop Desai, who sang really well. But second in the lineup, makes him easy to forget. Plus, the thumbs up he got came from Kara and Randy rather than Simon.
I dunno, I’m probably going to switch my pick to Matt for the pool. Its tough this week. Kris and Allison could also be in danger. Kris sang an unfamiliar song, and Allison sang first and sang badly.
And tonight, the kids will be split into groups, with some poor sucker stuck in the middle to choose sides. My money is on Danny who, unlike Melinda Doolittle and David Archuleta, will happily and cluelessly choose a side. Ugh.
Argh. Last night was so crappy, for so many reasons. Let’s start with that sh*teous idea that had each contestant critiqued by either Randy/Kara or Paula/Simon. There are some things that shouldn’t be messed with. Hearing from each judge after each performance is one of those things. The contestants–Matt Giraud, Kris Allen and Anoop Desai–who were stuck with the Randy/Kara critiques got the worst of it. Because, frankly? Nobody really cares what either of them thinks.
Of course, the logical solution to the time-overrun problem would be for each judge to keep their critiques short and to the point. You’d think show business professionals could handle the adjustment. But when the ego is bigger than the brain, I guess not.
I wouldn’t lay last night’s suckitude at the feet of mentor Quentin Tarantino, either. Granted, I liked him better in his Season 3 stint as an AI guest judge, where his snark was free to fly on live TV. But, as a mentor, he was expected to help the contestants, and in that capacity, there wasn’t much room for random funny.
Nevertheless, I liked that he directed the kids as if they were appearing in one of his films. The contestants are more or less starring in their own little mini-movies when they take the Idol stage–tips on vocal technique take a backseat to presentation in any case. I thought he doled out some good advice–like telling Danny to use his eyes rather than his hands, and suggesting that Lil commit to the 1st half of her song as well as the big gospel finish.
Not that either benefited from his good advice.
The best of last night were Kris Allen, Anoop Desai and Adam Lambert.
And, I’m standing by my initial impression of Kris Allen’s performance of “Falling Slowly”. I know a lot of peeps found it boring and pitchy. But even on repeated viewings, I wouldn’t have him change a thing. It maybe wasn’t a perfect vocal, but where some may have heard pitchy, I heard vulnerability and emotion. By the time he hit the chorus I had goosebumps. Interesting to see peeps split down the middle on that one.
Close behind Kris is Anoop Desai who delivered his best vocal of the entire competition. His phrasing and dynamics were so perfect I can almost forgive Anoop his terrible song choice. Oh how I hate “Everything I Do.” Anoop’s problem right now is that he can’t seem to get out of the ballad box. If he makes it to Disco next week, he’ll be expected to go upbeat and that’ll be a problem for him.
I found Adam Lambert’s “Born to be Wild” to be a mixed bag. Not sure I’m liking the spooky minor chords in the chorus, and Adam and the background singers sounded off. Although I realize the heavy metal scream is a standard covention in hard rock, I think the wail dates him, even within the very current electro-beat arrangement of the song. Suddenly I’m thinking hair bands instead of techno. Still, no one can touch Adam’s performance skills.
The rest of the performances were just irritating.
“Endless Love”? Really Danny Gokey? You went there? Sorry if I sound hard-hearted, but Danny might as well talk about the dead wife anyway if he’s going to clobber us over the head with his song choice. There was the heavenly harp, the poignant lyrics and the eyes pointed heavenward at the end. And then afterward that crush of people, sufficiently manipulated, lunging for their phones.
And before ya pounce on me, just let me say that if last season, a teary David Cook had sung “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother” while prominently displaying his cancer wristbands, after which Simon said “I know that’s a very emotional song for you, congratulations, ” I would have been just as turned off. OK?
Plus, Danny’s vocal was the typical display of lousy phrasing and oversinging. Bleah.
My little dark horse, Allison Iraheta, really made a hot mess out of “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” At first I thought that I just couldn’t get behind the song, but on subsequent viewings I have to admit that she was pitchy and hoarse throughout the performance. And she did not look comfortable up on that stage. Ironically, tonight was the night the script changed, and Simon actually pimped her for once. That he virtually ignorned her other good performances made his words sound a little ridiculous. But to the casual viewer, maybe not. Hopefully Simon was enough to save Allison from singing first and singing badly.
Oh Matt Giraud, you started off pretty well on that crappy Bryan Adams song, “Have You Ever Loved a Woman, ” but then you went right off the rails midway. Other than Matt losing his footing and letting loose with some massive vocal blunders, there wasn’t anything else to criticize. That’s why I say STFU to Kara who began yammering on about Matt and his “Soul box vs. his Rock box.” Now tell me, why was it OK for Anoop to choose a rock song, but not Matt? This irrational notion the judges have that Matt can only sing soul songs makes no sense. Matt needs advice on getting a hold of his nerves. But at this point, he’s pretty much lost his mojo. Poor Matt.
Another contestant who’s lost her mojo–but I don’t feel quite so sorry for–is Lil Rounds. Just like Megan Joy, Lil benefitted from some early pimping on performances that weren’t all that. Now, later in the competition when Lil, of course, can’t possibly live up to the judges unrealistic expectations, she’s confused and upset. But I’d feel for her a bit more if she’d lose the attitude. Popping off to Simon after he slammed her again didn’t help her at all. Lil, honey, you suck. Accept that the judges were blowing smoke up your ass initially and move on from there. If she could let go of needing the judges approval she might have a decent performance. But, not a great one. Lil is neither musical, or very interesting.
