American Idol Top 8 Show Reaction

American Idol 4/07/2009
Reaction

This week's song's were a choice of any song from the year that the contestant was born. When I heard this I thought to myself, "OK, this is going to be awesome!" You've got every contestant aside from Allison falling in the 80s and 80s music rocks. Then the show started and overall again I was very disappointed with the song selection. There has to be something that the public does not know about the songs the artists can pick from. I am going to do a little research and throw out what song I think the artist should have sang based on their birth date.

Danny Gokey - Stand by Me by Mickey Gilley
Danny was one of the exceptions to my comments above. I wasn't crazy about the arrangement that Danny performed but he is so good that he made it really enjoyable. Danny continues to top the competition each week and has yet to pick a song that is really bad for him. This is a huge key as certain contestants have been voted off due to their poor song choice. Danny will easily make it to the next level and has nothing to worry about this week. Again I am not disappointed with Danny's song choice here but if I were advising him I would have suggested that Danny sing Shining Star by The Manhattans.

Kris Allen - All She Wants to Do Is Dance by Don Henley
To date Kris has been the most consistent performer, however last night he made his first mistake of choosing a song that was out of his wheel house. It was a risk that he thought was necessary to take and it wasn't awful, but did not pay off. This song reminded me of a cover band's performance on ladies night at the club. One thing that I really like about Kris is that even when the judges rip into him he takes it for what it is. You won't hear him rattling off excuses about why he did what he did and when people are criticizing you that's tough to swallow. I would think that Kris has the potential of being in the bottom three this week, but judging off of the screams that Kris received after the performance and during the judging he will probably be safe. Chris was born in 1985 and I think that he would have been able to come up with a really cool version of either Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go or Can't Fight This Feeling.

Lil Rounds - What's Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner
As of last night, I have officially given up hope on Lil Rounds. When she first came on to the scene in Memphis I had the highest of hopes for her in this competition. She has suffered from some poor song choices the last few weeks and seemingly made a good choice this week with Tina Turner, but it still wasn't happening. I've come to the conclusion that she just is not the singer I thought she was. I'm not sure if she is cracking under the pressure or what, but since the top 13 she has not wowed anybody. That last note that she hit to end the song last night seriously hurt my ears. I am predicting that we see Lil sitting on the stools of shame this week and she has a good chance of heading back to Memphis after tonight. Looking at the list of top songs from 1984, Lil picked the right song, just couldn't bring it.

Anoop Desai - True Colors by Cyndi Lauper
Anoop's inconsistency continued this week as he had an above average performance, however any performance compared to his Usher last week would be considered above average. This song was soft and smooth, perfect for Anoop's voice. The judges all applauded Anoop and Simon had a wonderful analogy calling Anoop a "singing yo yo, one week your up and the next week your down." Anoop seems like a good guy but I'm not sure that Anoop's following is strong enough to keep him out of the bottom 3. Anoop was born in 1986 and in looking at the list of top songs in 1986 I think Anoop did well picking this song. Most of the others are upbeat or power ballads, and as we've seen those are the types of songs that Anoop struggles with.

Scott MacIntyre - The Search is Over by Survivor
It was really fun to learn a little bit about Scott's childhood. It really gave you a glimpse into what it would be like to live with a musical genius. On stage, Scott was the one to whip of the guitar this week. Scott handled the verses of the song very well, but the as most power ballads roll the chorus got a little too intense for Scott's voice. As the judges stated when Scott attempted to hit some of the high notes it sounded like a poor attempt at Adam's screech. 90% of the song was really good, but towards the end it tailed off. When I listened to it for a second time I actually thought it was a lot better than I originally thought. Unfortunately, solely based on the level of his competition, Scott will find himself being awkwardly escorted across the stage by Seacrest to the bottom three. Scott's personality and overall likability will keep him around one more week though. I think that Scott could have put together an amazing piano rendition of Careless Whisper by Wham.

Allison Iraheta - I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
This song choice really surprised me coming from a little spunky Allison, but she handled it very well. I think that the judges hit the nail on the head in their post performance critique of Allison. They all agreed that her personality was lacking. In my mind this lack of personality has come off on the stage as arrogance. This is something that I think Allison will be able to fix fairly easily but if she can't figure it out soon it could cost her a chance at the competition. The youngest person in the competition, Allison was born in 1992. I'm not sure how she would have handled it, but I think it would have been really cool to see Allison tackle Mariah Carey's I'll Be There.

Matt Giraud - Part-time Lover by Stevie Wonder
Oh man, how funny was it to see the video of Matt when he was in the angel play at church! Matt could also be called "the singing yo yo" because he had a great week this week. He brought the style back to the bluesy Giraud Squad style. Matt is in the middle of an identity crisis and thinks that it is more valuable for him to be multi faceted. But when you are so good at one genre, as Matt is with the bluesy jazz, you need to stick with it. Matt has found himself in the bottom three a couple times to date and if he would prefer to avoid that he NEEDS to stick within his genre and continue to impress. His performance did bring on Paula's stupid comment of the night, "Two words...Standing O!" Oh Paula. I liked Matt's song tonight but I feel like he could have been the one contestant that could have tackled Take On Me by A-Ha. That would have been very impressive.

Adam Lambert - Mad World by Tears for Fears
Adam tapped right into his fan base this week by picking this song, more famously known for being the theme song for Donnie Darko. My DVR cut out so I did not get to see Adam's performance but found it elsewhere online. I was not as impressed with Adam this week as I have been in weeks past. As he was singing the only thing that I could think of was that creepy old man from Family Guy, you know "Hey there muscly arms..." that guy! That's what he sounded like. Adam will inevitably be safer than safe this week but it was not his best performance to date. I'm not sure why Simon gave him the standing o that he did? I think that Adam could have done a cool rendition of Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band.

Overall Predictions: after the 04/07/2009 performance show

1. Danny Gokey
2. Adam Lambert
3. Allison Iraheta
4. Kris Allen
5. Matt Giraud
6. Anoop Desai
7. Scott MacIntyre
   
8. Lil Rounds - should go home this week, she has officially worn out her welcome