We now have a Final Four, and I don't think anybody is really mourning the loss of Matt. He really did deserve to go home 2 weeks ago, but he was indeed slightly better overall than Lil and Anoop. Adam in the bottom 3 or 2 instead of Allison was a shocker, but I think they just revealed that information to let America know to not drop the ball. Still, DC was never in the bottom 2/3 until the finals...so mark another one up for Gokey fans.
Next week is Rock and Roll, which is too broad of a theme but I can hope for true rocking with Slash at the helm. Probably will not happen, but dare to dream of no Phil Collins...
THIS WEEK: 0/1
FINALS: 6/10
OVERALL: 12/19
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
American Idol 8 - Rat Pack in the Top 5
So this week we get the smooth croning of Rat Pack music. There will be way too many glory notes added and Frank Sinatra should've been the mentor, but I guess Fox couldn't afford anyone that good. So Mr. "no suggestion" Jamie Foxx takes over. Thanks captain useless.
Kris Allen - "The Way You Look Tonight" - This was a mediocre performance, felt mailed in. Funny faces throughout and he doesn't fit this mold. He needs to step up at this stage and he's just not doing it. Paula says he's transformed into a distinguished gentlemen, but seriously, he looks like a young douche bag in a suit. Nice that they all wore classy suits tonight though, so no terrible outfits to speak of for once.
GRADE: C
Allison Iraheta - "Someone to Watch Over Me" - So now she's 17, yet still Randy and Jamie manage to painfully bring it up again that's she's 16 or 5 or whatever. Seriously, she's talented. Who cares that she's young? Maybe those gentlemen just keep saying it to keep from jumping her, hell I don't know. Oh sorry, it's Kara jumping everyone...not Randy. As for the performance, her rough edges showed which is why she's a rocker and not a crooner. She'll be in trouble, but this will be a hard week to call.
GRADE: C+
Matt Giraud - "My Funny Valentine" - This should be Matt's week, right? This theme fits him even better than Anoop after thinking about it. The big notes were a bit shouty for my liking, but it was a decent performance. He throws in stuff that doesn't work and really needed to knock it out of the park with this theme. As expected, even a perfect theme will not keep him from jeopardy.
GRADE: C -
Danny Gokey - "Come Rain or Come Shine" - It's sad that Matt is the one with all the Michigan soul and yet Danny out souls him every single week. It's probably got something to do with song choice and voice mechanics. Danny sings too much with his hands again. His performance was brilliant up until he grabbed the mike off the stand and started getting too heavy and oversinging again. Dramatic finishes shouldn't last 25 seconds.
GRADE: B
Adam Lambert - "Feeling Good" - The white suit proves that Glambert still is different. He has stage presence like nobody else, but he is a bordeline professional in the singing business. That could be longest glory note in Idol history but he's still better than everyone else. My pick to win it all will win it all, Gokey be damned.
GRADE: A-
This week I know we won't have a bottom three because that would be too obvious. Danny and Adam stood out, but how to sift through the other three is so hard. I will not be surprised if any of them goes home. I hope my streak of four ends, but alas, it appears to be sausage fest time.
TOP PERFORMER: Adam Lambert
SAFE: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen
BOTTOM TWO: Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud
BUH-BYES: Allison Iraheta
Kris Allen - "The Way You Look Tonight" - This was a mediocre performance, felt mailed in. Funny faces throughout and he doesn't fit this mold. He needs to step up at this stage and he's just not doing it. Paula says he's transformed into a distinguished gentlemen, but seriously, he looks like a young douche bag in a suit. Nice that they all wore classy suits tonight though, so no terrible outfits to speak of for once.
GRADE: C
Allison Iraheta - "Someone to Watch Over Me" - So now she's 17, yet still Randy and Jamie manage to painfully bring it up again that's she's 16 or 5 or whatever. Seriously, she's talented. Who cares that she's young? Maybe those gentlemen just keep saying it to keep from jumping her, hell I don't know. Oh sorry, it's Kara jumping everyone...not Randy. As for the performance, her rough edges showed which is why she's a rocker and not a crooner. She'll be in trouble, but this will be a hard week to call.
GRADE: C+
Matt Giraud - "My Funny Valentine" - This should be Matt's week, right? This theme fits him even better than Anoop after thinking about it. The big notes were a bit shouty for my liking, but it was a decent performance. He throws in stuff that doesn't work and really needed to knock it out of the park with this theme. As expected, even a perfect theme will not keep him from jeopardy.
GRADE: C -
Danny Gokey - "Come Rain or Come Shine" - It's sad that Matt is the one with all the Michigan soul and yet Danny out souls him every single week. It's probably got something to do with song choice and voice mechanics. Danny sings too much with his hands again. His performance was brilliant up until he grabbed the mike off the stand and started getting too heavy and oversinging again. Dramatic finishes shouldn't last 25 seconds.
GRADE: B
Adam Lambert - "Feeling Good" - The white suit proves that Glambert still is different. He has stage presence like nobody else, but he is a bordeline professional in the singing business. That could be longest glory note in Idol history but he's still better than everyone else. My pick to win it all will win it all, Gokey be damned.
GRADE: A-
This week I know we won't have a bottom three because that would be too obvious. Danny and Adam stood out, but how to sift through the other three is so hard. I will not be surprised if any of them goes home. I hope my streak of four ends, but alas, it appears to be sausage fest time.
TOP PERFORMER: Adam Lambert
SAFE: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen
BOTTOM TWO: Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud
BUH-BYES: Allison Iraheta
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
American Idol 8 - The Cut To 5
Heavy cuts this week, but it didn't feel like it as Lil was gone in 60 seconds. Seriously Idol producers, way to make her feel terribad. But anyways, godbye pigment, and probably goodbye females next week if the bottom three is any indication. So it will be a sausage fest May on Idol. Oh well.
THIS WEEK: 2/2
FINALS: 6/9
OVERALL: 12/18
THIS WEEK: 2/2
FINALS: 6/9
OVERALL: 12/18
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
American Idol Top 7, Try 2 - We Got Night Fever Baby
That's right...Simon promised us some disco. This could be only rivaled by country week in the usual badness. We'll see the Idol producers continue to fail to get a show in on time yet being able to do it for 7 years before now. 7 enter, and this week...2 must leave. Fantastic!
Lil Rounds - "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan - Lil wears a black spandex straight out of the era of this song, which is appreciated. Thanks for showing off what you got, blech. Sadly she actually has a good wig/weave this week compared to the usual. The song choice was decent for disco week, the performance was kind of blah. She missed a few notes, but nothing awful like the past few weeks. She may actually have a chance to stick around depending on if the other mediocre contestants throw this week (not, they put her behind the 8 ball seriously by making her go first). Lil becomes the ugliest bi-atch when she gets criticism, but then she breaks out the smile which she should show all the time.
GRADE: D+
Kris Allen - "She Works Hard For The Money" by Donna Summer - Kris goes back to the crutch guitar this week, setting him up for the same finish as Jason Castro (4th). His guitar playing is simpleton but not atrocious. I like the change of pace to make this not feel at all like Disco week but instead reggae week. Kris doesn't look bad, and his performance was OK if a little whiny. A solid performance on a surprising song. Bonus for the arrangement choice. Felt bad for Simon having to follow the best comment of the season "not a lot of guys shop in the women's section but you found something that fits perfectly." wow.
GRADE: B
Danny Gokey - "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire - Danny picks a cheesy upbeat rhyme time song. Thankfully Danny went back to the glasses this week because his squinting is awful. Knowing what Allison is wearing, I cannot begin to bash the leather jacket and faded jeans look. Danny overuses the backup singers I think, which may make the difference in the end. Performance was full of yelling it felt like. Not his usual good performance at all. Good song choice but not a great performance.
GRADE: C
Allison Iraheta - "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer - Hot stuff doesn't begin to describe this outfit. Patent leather stocking pants and a disco ball/leather top...apparently Allison is showing off her disco hard rock side. Seems a little inappropriate for a 16 YEAR OLD OMIGOSH...sorry they always say it to us every week. Allison does not do much with the arrangement but adds some glory notes at the end. Her performance is not bad but it felt like she was forcing things to hit this one, which detracted from the performance.
GRADE: C+
Adam Lambert -"If I Can't Have You" by John Travolta - Glambert does a Saturday Night Fever song and looks sharper in his suit than Ryan Secrest...hard to do! The difference between the Anoops of the competition and the Glamberts are that Adam actually can go from slow soulful to fast disco and back instead of sounding the same every week. Adam turns this song into a funeral march so he can crescendo up to a loud and borderline whiny chorus. He's solid otherwise.
GRADE: B
Matt Giraud - "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees - Cute song choice Matt, really. Not the cheesiest thing ever, oh wait yeah it is. the red jacket looks like it needs to go back on the dead guy you stole it from. Matt goes back to jazzing it up by throwing lots of runs and shouts and glory notes in an otherwise boring arrangement. He's a fun guy but he throws stuff in that makes the song run not smooth. Falsetto break at the end did not help his cause. Definitely in trouble again but better than last week.
GRADE: C-
Anoop Desai - "Dim All The Lights" by - I swear there must be a run on Razors this season because now even Anoop has gone scruffy on us to match Danny, Matt, and Kris's gaystache. Anoop looks like he's a frat boy with an 80's suit, just missed the decade dude. The performance was more upbeat than normal and pitchy was back. I'll give him points for changing it up but the performance was enough to make this interesting coming from the usual safe money slot.
GRADE: D+
So I don't know what to think. No A's and no FAILS, although I'm sure VFTW disagrees. Maybe I'm too nice. Don't know if there's a bottom 3 or 4...usually this is where we go to bottom 2 ground, but perhaps with 2 going home we'll have 4 on the floor. So with that in mind...
TOP PERFORMER: Kris Allen
SAFE: Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey
BOTTOM 4 BUT SAFE: Allison Iraheta
BOTTOM 3: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai
GOING HOME: Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai
Lil Rounds - "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan - Lil wears a black spandex straight out of the era of this song, which is appreciated. Thanks for showing off what you got, blech. Sadly she actually has a good wig/weave this week compared to the usual. The song choice was decent for disco week, the performance was kind of blah. She missed a few notes, but nothing awful like the past few weeks. She may actually have a chance to stick around depending on if the other mediocre contestants throw this week (not, they put her behind the 8 ball seriously by making her go first). Lil becomes the ugliest bi-atch when she gets criticism, but then she breaks out the smile which she should show all the time.
GRADE: D+
Kris Allen - "She Works Hard For The Money" by Donna Summer - Kris goes back to the crutch guitar this week, setting him up for the same finish as Jason Castro (4th). His guitar playing is simpleton but not atrocious. I like the change of pace to make this not feel at all like Disco week but instead reggae week. Kris doesn't look bad, and his performance was OK if a little whiny. A solid performance on a surprising song. Bonus for the arrangement choice. Felt bad for Simon having to follow the best comment of the season "not a lot of guys shop in the women's section but you found something that fits perfectly." wow.
GRADE: B
Danny Gokey - "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire - Danny picks a cheesy upbeat rhyme time song. Thankfully Danny went back to the glasses this week because his squinting is awful. Knowing what Allison is wearing, I cannot begin to bash the leather jacket and faded jeans look. Danny overuses the backup singers I think, which may make the difference in the end. Performance was full of yelling it felt like. Not his usual good performance at all. Good song choice but not a great performance.
GRADE: C
Allison Iraheta - "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer - Hot stuff doesn't begin to describe this outfit. Patent leather stocking pants and a disco ball/leather top...apparently Allison is showing off her disco hard rock side. Seems a little inappropriate for a 16 YEAR OLD OMIGOSH...sorry they always say it to us every week. Allison does not do much with the arrangement but adds some glory notes at the end. Her performance is not bad but it felt like she was forcing things to hit this one, which detracted from the performance.
GRADE: C+
Adam Lambert -"If I Can't Have You" by John Travolta - Glambert does a Saturday Night Fever song and looks sharper in his suit than Ryan Secrest...hard to do! The difference between the Anoops of the competition and the Glamberts are that Adam actually can go from slow soulful to fast disco and back instead of sounding the same every week. Adam turns this song into a funeral march so he can crescendo up to a loud and borderline whiny chorus. He's solid otherwise.
GRADE: B
Matt Giraud - "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees - Cute song choice Matt, really. Not the cheesiest thing ever, oh wait yeah it is. the red jacket looks like it needs to go back on the dead guy you stole it from. Matt goes back to jazzing it up by throwing lots of runs and shouts and glory notes in an otherwise boring arrangement. He's a fun guy but he throws stuff in that makes the song run not smooth. Falsetto break at the end did not help his cause. Definitely in trouble again but better than last week.
GRADE: C-
Anoop Desai - "Dim All The Lights" by - I swear there must be a run on Razors this season because now even Anoop has gone scruffy on us to match Danny, Matt, and Kris's gaystache. Anoop looks like he's a frat boy with an 80's suit, just missed the decade dude. The performance was more upbeat than normal and pitchy was back. I'll give him points for changing it up but the performance was enough to make this interesting coming from the usual safe money slot.
GRADE: D+
So I don't know what to think. No A's and no FAILS, although I'm sure VFTW disagrees. Maybe I'm too nice. Don't know if there's a bottom 3 or 4...usually this is where we go to bottom 2 ground, but perhaps with 2 going home we'll have 4 on the floor. So with that in mind...
TOP PERFORMER: Kris Allen
SAFE: Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey
BOTTOM 4 BUT SAFE: Allison Iraheta
BOTTOM 3: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai
GOING HOME: Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai
Thursday, April 16, 2009
American Idol - The Cut to 6...NOT!
So they used the save in the next to last week. Hmmm. Guess they did not want to save Lil or Anoop. Makes sense, but Matt rightfully deserved to go home. Still chalking it up as a victory.
THIS WEEK: 1/1
FINALS: 4/7
SEASON: 10/16
THIS WEEK: 1/1
FINALS: 4/7
SEASON: 10/16
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
American Idol Top 7 - Movie Soundtracks
So I did not watch the show back in Season 3 as you'll recall, but I guess Quentin Tarantino loves the show so much he's already been a guest judge once. Now he's a mentor, and this could lead to some worster delight as he is probably the craziest goober you'll ever see. I mean, when you make Andrew Lloyd Weber look like Fabio, you are an uber-goober.
(These are short because I did not liveblog the show, so sue me)
Allison Iraheta - "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith - No shocker of a song choice here, which would be a theme of the night. She did not have a great performance, but it was solid enough on a weak night.
GRADE: C-
Anoop Desai - "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams - So Anoop goes up there and crones out another slow melody while making funny overdramatic faces and not quite living up to the original. He has a consistent d-bag frat boy look. I see no future for him in music, really.
GRADE: C-
Adam Lambert - "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf - Adam goes with upbeat again, flaming his way through the song and adding too many glory notes. He's back to weirdly sexual this week, but he still is better than most of these other jokers.
GRADE: B
Matt Giraud - "To Really Love A Woman" by Bryan Adams - Seriously? What the fuck? Can we get 7 different artists at a minimum when we're this far into the competition? Bryan Adams sucked, and Matt's performance is AWFUL. He takes all that goodwill from last week and trashes it in spectacular fashion.
GRADE: FAIL
Danny Gokey - "Endless Love" by Diana Ross - Gokey plays it safe, relying on his voice only as the song choice sucks and the performance is bland. Judges actually call him out on it. Bravo.
GRADE: D
Kris Allen - "Falling Slowly" by someone irrelevant - So Kris goes out and sings an unknown song from an unknown movie and the song turns out to be a boring funeral dirge that allows for no show of musical or singing talent whatsoever. Great choice, dumbass.
GRADE: FAIL
Lil Rounds - "The Rose" by Bette Midler - She decides to take on a big girl song again, but thankfully not Whitney or Celine. Still, she throws in a "gospel" switch in the middle of the song and proves why she is clueless and the worst contestant remaining. On the VFTW block's last effective week (statistically shown to end at Top 7) and the money slot, she'll barely be safe.
GRADE: FAIL
Wow. Glambert gets a B which could've been a C, and nobody else above C-. This season could be the worst set of contestants ever. Sad.
TOP PERFORMER: Adam Lambert (I guess by default)
SAFE: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen (stupid tweentards)
BOTTOM THREE: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai
BUH-BYE: Matt Giraud
(These are short because I did not liveblog the show, so sue me)
Allison Iraheta - "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith - No shocker of a song choice here, which would be a theme of the night. She did not have a great performance, but it was solid enough on a weak night.
GRADE: C-
Anoop Desai - "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams - So Anoop goes up there and crones out another slow melody while making funny overdramatic faces and not quite living up to the original. He has a consistent d-bag frat boy look. I see no future for him in music, really.
GRADE: C-
Adam Lambert - "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf - Adam goes with upbeat again, flaming his way through the song and adding too many glory notes. He's back to weirdly sexual this week, but he still is better than most of these other jokers.
GRADE: B
Matt Giraud - "To Really Love A Woman" by Bryan Adams - Seriously? What the fuck? Can we get 7 different artists at a minimum when we're this far into the competition? Bryan Adams sucked, and Matt's performance is AWFUL. He takes all that goodwill from last week and trashes it in spectacular fashion.
GRADE: FAIL
Danny Gokey - "Endless Love" by Diana Ross - Gokey plays it safe, relying on his voice only as the song choice sucks and the performance is bland. Judges actually call him out on it. Bravo.
GRADE: D
Kris Allen - "Falling Slowly" by someone irrelevant - So Kris goes out and sings an unknown song from an unknown movie and the song turns out to be a boring funeral dirge that allows for no show of musical or singing talent whatsoever. Great choice, dumbass.
GRADE: FAIL
Lil Rounds - "The Rose" by Bette Midler - She decides to take on a big girl song again, but thankfully not Whitney or Celine. Still, she throws in a "gospel" switch in the middle of the song and proves why she is clueless and the worst contestant remaining. On the VFTW block's last effective week (statistically shown to end at Top 7) and the money slot, she'll barely be safe.
GRADE: FAIL
Wow. Glambert gets a B which could've been a C, and nobody else above C-. This season could be the worst set of contestants ever. Sad.
TOP PERFORMER: Adam Lambert (I guess by default)
SAFE: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen (stupid tweentards)
BOTTOM THREE: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai
BUH-BYE: Matt Giraud
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
American Idol - The Cut To 7
The results show was so bad, I skipped most of the performances after a few seconds. Anorexic Kelli Pickler and rapper's delight, blech. Plus the better half was out of town, so I could skip through as much as I wanted anyways. Nevertheless, I was right on for the first time in 4 weeks, as Scott indeed goes home. The judges really debated over saving him, which I think was 50% genuine because this is the first good contestant booted off this season and 50% being nice to the blind kid. If it's not Adam or Gokey going home prematurely, they will not use the save. End of story.
THIS WEEK: 1/1
FINALS: 3/6
SEASON: 9/15
THIS WEEK: 1/1
FINALS: 3/6
SEASON: 9/15
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