American Idol Recap — 12 May
Top Three show tonight. Going into the night I felt like Kris was the underdog but I feel like he made up some ground. The contestants each sang two songs: a judges choice and their own choice. I found the judges first round commentary fairly useless. I guess that is to be expected at this point in the year, there isn’t a whole lot left to be said. Kara Dioguardi and Simon Cowell’s little feud was kind of stupid because they were both saying the same thing, that they wanted the contestants to make the song their own. Kara felt the need to point out that she has interpreted songs and Simon hasn’t which is kind of a Randy Jackson name drop thing to do, but then Simon came back and said that he personally spoke to Bono of U2 in order to get permission for Adam Lambert’s song, so he returned the name drop.
Round 1
Danny Gokey — Dance Little Sister
Danny came out singing a song I had never heard of which is sometimes helpful and sometimes confusing. I can’t tell if they are just doing a sound alike performance or if they are being original. I liked the energy he brought with the song even the through judges mocked his dancing. I don’t care if they are great dancers, but I like the effort. He did a nice little bee bop thing with the saxophone player in the middle of the song which I thought worked well for him. Again the judges didn’t agree.
Kris Allen — Apologize
I thought this was Kris’s best performance of the year. I liked the hip hop background beat combined with him at the piano. I thought he sang it well. Usually when I hear songs on idol I can’t imagine actually hearing them on the radio (this is especially true with Adam Lambert) but this was a song that I could totally hear on the radio. The judges seemed to disagree, so maybe it sounded too much like the original, which I have not heard. This was another instance where I was a big fan of Kara and her little, this is a song everyone knows. Well, sorry, I didn’t.
Adam Lambert — One
Well, I’m glad Simon called Bono because Adam did a great job with the song. He made it original and he sang it like a song that could actually be on the radio without losing his personal touch. It was Adam, but not so over the top as usual Adam. Not much more to say about him except he is really good and really should win the contest.
And now…
Round 2
Danny Gokey — You Are So Beautiful
Danny sang very well with this class song. I like the beginning with the slow balad touch, but the end got a little too big for me. That song is best used as a soft, slow love ballad. The big ending like that would not play real well as a single. Having said that, as the Simon said, the vocal was great.
Kris Allen — Heartless
Wow, Kris is brining his A game tonight. He sang Heartless which I guess is a Kanya West song with just an acoustic guitar. If possible this performance was better than his first one. He singing was in key and well done. He brough a lot of energy to the song and again it sounded like a song that could be on the radio. I don’t know exactly where this new Kris came from tonight, but I really feel like he is passing by Danny Gokey tonight.
Kara faux paus number 2. She said Kris was gutsy for just using an acoustic guitar. No one else would have the courage to do that. Well, Kara, I would like to point her to the end of season 2 when Bo Bice sang a capella with a single spot light and it rocked. I am not trying to detract from Kris’s great performance, but Kara needs to learn her idol history. (I have included the video below as a special treat.)
Adam Lambert — Cryin
As I said, Adam will most likely win this competition, and I think he kind of knows he is in a good place. Because of that, I feel like he chose to sing a relatively safe song (safe for him that is.) And so I will fault him for playing it safe for his second song, but that song would be very challenging for anyone else, so that says something. Cryin is exactly the kind of song he will end up singing in his career so it was a logical choice. And clearly he is ready. In many ways I am glad idol exists for him to get noticed.
Conclusion
This may be the tightest top 3 in America Idol history. Coming in I would have picked Adam and Danny for the finale, but if I look at just tonight I think Kris out performed Danny (and Adam). I am not sure if tonight is enough to push Kris past Danny’s performances throughout the year. Danny is probably a better singer, but Kris performed better tonight and probably has performed a little better throughout the year. Great night, should be a good finale.
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Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Bo Bice, Danny Gokey, Kara Dioguardi, Kris Allen, randy jackson, simon cowell, YouTube
