Who should be sent home next?
Total Votes: 616
This week the Top 11 honor The Grand Ole Opry. Recently guest mentor Randy Travis invited former Idol winner Carrie Underwood to become a member of The Opry. Tomorrow the two will perform a duet.
It's Grand Ole Opry Night on American Idol and that means Simon is going to be extra hard to please. We all know how little the Brit likes country music so it's a real test to see which of the Top 11 can impress him tonight.
Who knew that it was going to be Anoop Desai who would shine the most? Last week, he stood next to Jorge Nunez and wondered if he would be back again. This week, he blew us away with a beautiful, heartfelt performance of a classic - Willie Nelson's "Always on My Mind." My only complaint is that you don't sing a song like that in a hoody. Anoop stepped up his vocal game this week; now he needs to dress the part.
Also doing a full 180 was Megan Joy Corkrey. Megan Joy was also fighting for survival last week and despite having the flu tonight, she turned in a pretty nice performance of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight." I'm still not a full out Megan Joy fan, but I'm starting to see what others like about her. Now if she'd just get rid of that funky twist/dance thing. And unlike Simon, I liked tonight's look much better than her quirky look.
Now normally when we get to country music we have several fall flat on their face, but honestly, I can't say that there were any real bad performances - one a bit on the weird side, but no train wrecks. In fact, I'm having trouble picking my favorite and judging from the clips of the contestants with guest mentor Randy Travis, he did too.
Among those impressing me tonight was Kris Allen. Kris sang "To Make You Feel My Love" which is not one of my favorite Garth Brook songs. But Kris made it sound beautiful. Randy Travis called him a great ballad singer and I have to say I agree. I kind of wish he would have sang it with the guitar, but without it he took a chance, showed his vulnerable side and it worked.
Just a note to Kara, who said that she didn't even know that Kris' performance was Opryland material. Opryland was a country-themed amusement park, no longer in existence. The Opry is the longest running radio show that Idol was honoring tonight
Matt Giraud also blew me away. Both he and Danny Gokey chose Carrie Underwood songs. First, let me tell you I find it a little weird when male singers pick songs by female artists, especially when they do it consistently like Danny. I'm all in favor of guys getting in touch with their feminine side, but when they keep picking these songs, I have to wonder what they are trying to accomplish.
Tonight Matt showed us what he was trying to accomplish. I was totally wowed! I liked his version "So Small" better than the original. And let me tell you that this guy can really play the piano too.
Unfortunately, Danny's performance just didn't compare. He didn't really change much for his rendition of "Jesus Take the Wheel." He struggled with the verses, but came out soulful and big on the chorus. However, it sounded like every other song Danny does.
On the other hand, Alexis Grace changed up her performance tonight. The judges thought her performance of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" lacked the "dirty" she's had the last couple of weeks. Personally, I liked seeing Alexis' softer side. Sure, she didn't try anything different with the song, but it still came across simple and pretty.
However, pretty wouldn't be how I'd describe Adam Lambert's performance. I grew up in a family that regarded Johnny Cash as a legend and you don't mess with a legend. So you can see where I would approach Adam's Middle Eastern arrangement of "Ring of Fire" with trepidation. Now, I can't say that I think Cash would have loved it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be - just weird.
I think Adam would have had more success if he'd tried a rock version of the song. But even funnier that Kara trying to evaluate Adam's performance was Randy Travis' reaction to Adam in general. Talk about clash of cultures.
But fun was the name of the game for Michael Sarver. He might not have the strongest vocals, but Michael is definitely a down-to-earth likeable guy. During the critique about his performance of "Ain't Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)" by Garth Brooks, he said "country music is about having some fun."
And Michael sure looked like he was having fun when he was singing that mouthful of words that make up that song. While I like that performance, I agree that it had a couple rough spots were it sounded like he mumbled the words a little. But when Simon rated Michael's performance as a 1.2 (on a scale of 10), the personable Michael replied with a smile, at least it wasn't a zero.
Another performance that I think got overshadow tonight was Scott MacIntyre. His version of Martina McBride's "Wild Angels" started out very pretty and I liked it even more after he picked up the tempo. But unfortunately, while the arrangement is beautiful, the vocals just didn't wow me.
We learned tonight that Scott spends an incredible amount of time on the arrangements each week - and it shows - and he hasn't always gotten his first choice in songs, but he still needs to kick up the vocals a notch if he wants to stay in the game. And I totally disagree with Paula, I don't think the piano inhibits his performances at all - it enhances them.
Poor Lil Rounds just suffered from the wrong genre this week. Lil was clearly unfamiliar with country music, but I think she made a fair stand with her version of Martina McBride's "Independence Day." It wasn't her best performance, but it was still solid. Unfortunately, compared to the others she just paled. But no matter how she performed, Simon really needs to learn her name by now. He insisted on calling her Little throughout her critique.
While Lil struggled with the genre, Allison Iraheta missed an opportunity. She chose "Blame It On Your Heart" by Patty Loveless and she put in a decent performance. But given the bluesy/rock sound of her voice, Allison could have change that performance more to suit her voice and really stolen the night. If she'd have experimented a little more, she would have been much more memorable.
I'm really struggling with my bottom three this week because as I said earlier no one just crashed and burned. I think the bottom would have to include Allison and Lil. The third spot could go to either Scott or Michael. And I think Allison should be the one to go home.
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To start off with, I think the unnamed 'Idol Staffer' is either a figment of someone's over heated imagination or some loudmouth who overheard producers & judges talking about their personal favorites and turned it into 'the show is fixed' in their mind.
The best performance of the night hands down was Kris, for two weeks in a row he has really impressed me. A close second would be the Anoop Dawg, the dude is back. He did a great job on one of my all time favorite songs. And third behind Anoop is Matt. It took a while but he finally turned in a solid performance which I really enjoyed. I hope he keeps it up.
I think the judges were a 'lil' hard on my gal Lil Rounds. I think she took a huge chance taking on the Martina McBride standard 'Independence Day'. She did a good job keeping honest to the original and keeping in the spirit of the week's theme.
I think the judges were unfairly harsh on Scott too. He did much better than last week and had a really solid performance tonight. I can see where the judges are coming from, I would like to see him take more chances with his song choices.
I give props to Megan for coming out and singing with the flu. Her performance was just ok for me, however. I still adore her as a person but her shine as a singer is wearing off.
I love 'Jolene' as done by Dolly, not anyone else. Alexis did not do that song or herself any favors. Another disappointing performance.
Adam was a trainwreck, he tread upon sacred ground with me. Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire' is untouchable and his rendition was tantamount to urinating on Mr. Cash's grave. I hope Johnny raises from the grave tonight and comes after Adam.
Allison is still horrible. I don't get what everyone loves about her, maybe she sings on a frequency which I can't hear? I don't know.
Michael had he weakest performance of the night, and he had the misfortune of going first which will put him in the bottom three. That song was fun, but toneless, it did not let us hear the incredible vocals he is really capable of.
I hate the song that Danny chose so much, I decided to clean the catbox versus sitting thru his performance. and the recap clip confirmed I made the correct decision, his vocals were way off his standards.
So, my bottom: 3 Allison, Alexis and Michael with Michael going home unfortunately.
On the bubble Megan.
Top performances Kris, Anoop, Matt and Lil.
I actually think Johnny Cash, being the rebel he was, would have liked that performance by Adam. It was not my cup of tea, but it was ok.
I agree that Alexis needs to step up her game, but I did not think it was awful. And I am just tired of the judges telling one person to change their game every week and all they tell her is to be "dirty". That is weak and it is like they are patronizing her.
I agreed with Simon on Lil Rounds and Scott. I thought they were the weakest.
Anoop blew me away, but I would have liked to hear Jorge sing that song (oh well)
I was not that impressed with Danny this week either.
Kris was my favorite, and I agreed it was not necessarily a country song as much as a cross over, the way he performed it.
I did not think Micheal's performance was all that good. To pick a song that Garth blew away, I didn't think it was all that "fun". I was laying down in bed threw the whole thing, trying to stay awake... It was more like just seeing if he could remember all the words.
I liked Megan's rendition of "Walking after Midnight". It was completely different and cute. It sounded like something out of a 20's bar saloon. Totally different from Kelly Pickler's performance of it as well.
Scott was boring. He has a nice voice, but boring.
That is an excellent point, maybe he ought to give up the reins on the arrangement and let the band take care of that and concentrate on his vocals for one week and see how it works for him. He has such a great attitude and personality it is hard to root against him.
Scott is probably a perfectionist.... it can get in the way sometimes. A very hard thing to overcome.
A robot could be trained to paint or sing, an artist sometimes has to give up perfection ... just a little bit.
Dial Idol (dot) com has the singers ranked thusly (My comments in parantheses):
1st Danny (totally disagree skating on previous good will and fan base should be middle of the pack)
2nd Anoop (I agree he is the comeback kid, the Anoop Dawg is back in the house!)
3rd Lil (I agree, is probably skating a bit on rep and her back story)
4th-8th Matt (Should be nowhere near as low as 8th he really came out with a strong performance last night)
4th-9th Kris (He should be the number one, but hasn't established a fan base a la Gokey yet no way he should be towards the lower end of the voting)
4th-10th Adam (Teen, Tweens and Pre Teens are just gushing over this guy, riding his fan base)
4th-10th Michael (Seems to be safe, riding his back story and established fan base, good guy deserves at least one more week and yes I did pick him to go home based on his performance)
4th-10th Scott (Two 'safe' performances in a row have pushed him towards the bottom, hopefully safe for another week and allowed to take a risk and really shine)
5th-11th Megan (I think her goodwill is wearing thin with the voters and an average performance last night didn't help)
6th-11th Allison (Ok, it isn't just me, she isn't as good as the judges and Mr. Travis made her out to be)
9th-11th Alexis (I have to agree with her being at the bottom, she started off strong in the competition but has not done anything of note the last two weeks)
I don't see the judges playing the 'Save an Idol' card tonight either, still a little to early for that.
I agree about the emotional card... I don't think I get that with Danny as much as with Scott.
If Alexis is last... I could see them using the save card to keep her in the top 10. They may be mad to do so... but I could see them doing it.
I don't think Lil Rounds did so good. She wanted to stay true to country, but did not do so, and was totally stiff with the performance. And I loved her last week. I disagreed with them saying she should have done "I will always love you". After Whitney did that, it would have been to close of a performance. I remember them saying that to someone last year or the year before. There are many Martina songs she could have done. I don't think she searched enough. I could even see her singing Crazy by Patsy Cline.
I don't like these types of competitions. I think you should be able to have a larger range to choose from.
Well I was obviously wrong...
My favorites:
Adam: It may not have been your cup of tea, but the vocals were brilliant. Johnny Cash never sang it like that for a reason: He couldn't. Adam stole his voice from Ian Gillan.
Anoop: Amazing comeback. A light went on. He needs to stop wearing his laundry though.
Kris: This guy is good.
Megan: I am a Megan fan. I love her voice, but she needs lots of advice and help with song choices to keep it going. I want to hear her sing Duffy.
Thumbs Down.
Scott: If you close your eyes and listen to his vocal, it's very average.
Alexis: She seemed bored with the whole thing. Even the judges seems bored with her.
Sarver: Bad song choice on country week of all weeks.
I seem to remember Server saying that was where he was going with his career... and that is not a bad idea for him... but when you are in this competiton and you are weak on your strength... it stands out like a bad penny.
I would hate to see Megan go, just because she is sick.
Agreed Scott is average.
I have said this before and will continue to repeat it " When they tell how many votes came in I think they should tell how many votes the contestant received " and that would take away the concerns that the final four are all ready known or that they are not abiding by the vote.
I like Country music night and thought most did a good job but some were better. I am not a Anoop fan but was very impressed with his song performance last night,
I also like Megan and Matt last night. I did not care for Sarver last night.
I'm looking forward to hearing Travis and Carrie sing tonight.
Adam is/was awful. Period. I just don't get the appeal. He is way to theatrical and creepy.
Have you heard of Marylin Manson??? Some like that.
Based on last night Adam should go home. That was awful. He has become creepy. A friend said a lot. "He will be a hit with the Goths".
Based on total work Michael should go home at this point. He is not getting any better. The others are. When more is being said about how 'nice' he is it should tell us something about his singing.
Allison did a great job. She should not be in jeopardy.
Lil had a lot of bluesy tunes she could have chosen. She tried too hard to be "country".
This may be the week the judges use the save...
I would not be the least bit upset if Adam got sent home. He has been in the business long enough to be "discovered" by now. There is a reason he has not gone further. To me he is not edgy... he fell off.
You know based on what you just said... I think as the numbers dwindel... Adam may be gone in the next few weeks. Not this week. Goths don't really watch Idol. Just a guess, this is more for the tweens, country fans, and the homebody middle age X'ers like me.
I'm over 50 from a mid-western state, and I thought Adam's performance was brilliant! Where was all this indignation when Daughtry made country "his own"?
When you listen to the guy talk, he's smart and funny and not at all goth. He's a performer. Think of Billy Idol (no pun intended), Adam Ant, Ozzy, etc. They made solid career hits using a personna. Whether it was your personal syle or not, you've got to recognize his SINGING was amazing! Every note in a very complicated rendition was "spot-on".
Whatever you think of the performance the test is "Would you buy it?". Tell me honestly that you want the video of that to watch even one more time.
My top 4 were Adam, Anoop, Matt & Kris. I like when a contestant changes up a song and makes it their own. David Cook did it last year with "Hello" and it really paid off for him. Blake Lewis did it the year before with "You Give Love A Bad Name." I think I would have liked Adam's performance better if he would have rocked it out a little more but I do think that he is a little too much like David Cook so I can see him not winning this year. He does have a wicked range though.
I don't get the whole Alexis thing. He song that got her into the top 12 was good but I haven't been impressed with her since.
Danny is starting to let me down. I really liked him when he first auditioned but like other people have mentioned he keeps singing the same type of songs. That coat he was wearing yesterday was hideous.
I think Sarver is going home tonight. Mainly because he led off the show (never a good place to be), and his performance didn't stand out. I think the other 2 joining him will be Alexis and Scott.
My strongest females are Allison and Lil. Allison first.
At only 16, her stage presence puts her above and beyond the other girls IMO.
What is this business about "making the song their own"? Is not the point to get you, the consumer, to want to make it YOUR own? Some changes are just too much change for the sake of change.
Worst of the night: Adam. LMBAO @ that performance. No ma'am!!!!
Best of the night: While Anoop is my man 100 grand, Kris' funky a$$ made a brilliant decision to sing a ballad and he delivered. Damn him!!!!!
Allison: Loved it. She can really do no wrong, which makes me think she might get voted off, J Hudson style. If Allison and Adam somehow ended up in the bottom two...I'd hate to think Adam would have more votes.
Lil: Can't win for losing. I'm pretty sure if she had come out and did a straight R&B; twist on a country song, the judges would have criticized that as well, then complain that she sounded just like Mary J. Which coincidentally, is what most of her detractors complain about to begin with. I'm really glad she didn't do what the judges said and sang "I will always love you", heard it far too many times. Having said all that, she didn't blow it out of the water for whatever reason so it is what it is.
Sarver: Eh. Good guy though.
Danny: The judges had it right, the verse sections were all wrong.
Scott: WTH was Paula talking about, but yeah, the vocals aren't there in some parts.
Alexis: Good song choice, started out well, but I don't think she really committed. Plus she kinda flubbed some of the notes.
Megan: She looked beautiful for being sick. I didn't like her performance, but I gotta give her credit for sticking it out. The voters may be kind.
Matt: While I think he's a good singer, I didn't like his performance all that much. Not even sure what it is, but he wasn't as good as Anoop or Chris vocally.
Bottom two based on performance: Adam, Alexis.
Bottom two prediction: I think Sarver is vulnerable, and Megan. Tuff call though, I'll reserve the right to change my mind at any point. LOL. So long as it isn't Anoop.
While I can't say that I loved Adam's performance, I give him credit for sticking to his personality, and doing something that is definately him. I can't say that for Lil, and I still don't get why every one likes Scott. He's a great piano player, but for once Paula was right. It's a clutch, and I don't think he's great (not even that good) vocally.
Danny was great, and so was Matt this week. Anoop was amazing. I think Michael Sarver will be going home, but I think that if she wasn't getting sympathy votes, it would be Megan Joy. And I like Allison way better than Alexis. Always have.
As for the whole "fixed" thing... I think that it's a load of crap. The show isn't fixed, and never has been. Yeah, the whole Judges Veto thing will keep someone in the game longer than the people want them to be, but I'm okay with that. Like this week, if Lil gets voted off, it will keep her in the game, and let us see more. For country week, there's always a couple of contestants that suck just because it's not their genre, and for some of them, an early exit isn't right.
Then there are big disappointments. Michael Sarver should sing country, and he should sing it well, but he picks songs that don't work. He can sing Garth Brooks' songs, it's just that the one he picked didn't show of his vocals. He could've picked "The thunder rolls" and nailed it. But he picked a song that's more like a rap song w/all it's words, and never got to shine.
I think all the singers must be struggling with what to do for the judges. So, they should follow Adam's lead, and be true to who and what you are. Adam has an amazing voice and all iconic singers have made people uncomfortable (Elvis, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, etc.) He is mesmerizing and has ridiculous vocals. He makes the rest of the crowd look like amateurs. I think AI would be boring without him.
Kris is a boy band member. Anoop is only loved so much this week because he was hated so much last week ... it had to get better. Alexis simply panders to the judges. Allison, Danny, Matt and Lil are doing OK. Megan is just plain quirky but beautiful. Scott does not have the vocals to hang in there. Michael is forgettable.
I wish them all luck, but this is a singing contest. Adam has the best voice and is the most entertaining. Can't deny it.
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