The Top 4 - 5/5/09

[The4thJudge]

Plain Black T

So, the alarm went off at 5am this morning and what was the first thing that popped into my head – "Renegade." Thanks AI, I really appreciate that. Oh, and thanks to the Kings of Leon for getting it out of my head on the drive into work.

Rock night on American Idol – seems like a bit of an oxymoron. I anticipated an absolute train wreck, but was pleasantly surprised that it was only a fender bender.

Adam Lambert – “Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin
This was a perfect song choice for Adam, a song where showing off his range is part of the song and not just, well, showing off. Simon pointed out how creative the performance was, and I have to disagree. I listened to this song many, many times during my teenage years (sometimes actually sober) and I have to say that the approach was not all that different from the Robert Plant original..

Allison Iraheta – “Cry Baby” – Janis Joplin
I was hoping that Allison would not do Janis Joplin; I thought it was just too obvious. But she did, and unfortunately she didn't choose the right Joplin. Kara was right in saying "Piece of My Heart" would have been a better choice. Allison's other choice, Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" really was the one to go with. A little Grace Slick would have been a nice addition to the night. All that said, the girl did kick it. I love her voice and her confidence. She claimed to always be nervous on stage, but it never shows.

Kris and Danny – “Renegade” – Styx
I actually thought this duet was very good. The harmonies were stellar. It fell apart for Kris in the solo pieces, but damn he looked good. Danny's performance was good, but I have to say, I was bothered by the perfect formation of his words. It was a bit distracting. Since when have you heard the lyrics of a rock song clearly enunciated?

Kris Allen – “Come Together” – The Beatles
Going with The Beatles was perfect for Kris. I thought it was a good song choice and he rocked it but made it Kris Allen. Kris' phrasing is unique, and I think that is one of the things I find interesting about his performances. I think the judges were a bit hard on him, but it's Kris Allen on rock night, what did they expect.

Danny Gokey – “Dream On” – Aerosmith
And here's the train wreck. Of all the songs you could have chosen Danny. Oy! The whole song was basically flat and then there was the scream. Yes Danny, you were out of your comfort zone, but I think you could have chosen something that wouldn't take you sooooo far outside.

Allison and Adam – "Slow Ride" – Foghat
Anyone who has Guitar Hero has probably heard this song waaaaay too many times. All I could think about as I was listening was trying to press the right f'in colored buttons. Okay, that's just my problem. Anyway, Allison and Adam should perform together more. Their voices complement each other perfectly. I thought Adam's vocals were actually a bit restrained on this one.

I actually voted last night - the first time since Season 5. I'm not going to say who I voted for, but I think this person deserves to stay on and would love to see them in the finals.

Who's Going Home: I think it's going to be Kris.


Seacrest's Hair

We went into this week thinking "Trainwreck", and well, some of it was. And some of it was orgasmic. Heyeayahhhh... <-- us dying happy.

So, sans dress rehearsal, the Idol sound and lighting guys actually didn't do too bad of a job. Kris suffered the most, as the arrangement of "Come Together" totally drowned him out. However, he did try to make the song his own within the confines of keeping the arrangement quite close to the original. All of the arrangements, in fact, were close to the originals... probably a damn good idea, considering how much people complained about Disco week.

Adam, of course, PWNED. He's been trying to do "Whole Lotta Love" all season, and finally got permission from Zep. Yay! And thanks to the camera guys for not cutting away from the mic stand action... this is like porn without nudity, plus singing. Niiiice. Also, Slash was right, Adam's lower register = love. Can we talk a minute about how Adam reacts to the judges? Smiles through all the compliments from the first three, then puts on the "serious eyes" for Simon. Ooh, we love serious eyes.

Then Allison owned her song. Here's the girl that, if she'd waited a few years and gone to college, would've paid for books by singing in bars with her very own grrl band. As it is, she could possibly challenge Pink in a few years, or at the very least Kelly Clarkson. Yeah, it was almost a Janis clone... but who cares? It was good.

We already addressed Kris, and there's really not much more to say about that. He's most in danger this week, sadly, even though Gokey obviously did the worst. We've got relatives that say, "God gave me this voice, so He can listen to me sing with it," but do the rest of us have to listen to the Goke strangling a cat onstage? Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch. It was pitchy and then just bad, and the stupid judges wouldn't call him on it because they've spent so much of this season pimping him. WTF?

The duets... Kris and Gokey had absolutely no chemistry. It was like a battle of Gokey's ego and Kris's desperation to hang on for another week. The harmonies were good, but that was pretty much the only redeemable thing about it.

Allison and Adam smoked "Slow Ride", though... granted, we could've loved a rock ballad with them (even realizing, yes, Adam's gay and ten years older than Allison). They sing like they've been working together for years, playing off each other and emanating sheer joy. We want to pinch their cheeks... the ones on Allison's face, and the ones on Adam's ass, but cheeks nonetheless. Co-headlining tour next winter, please?

Sad as it may be, Kris is probably toast... unless we're going to get the irony of Daughtry returning to the stage as Gokey is voted off. Not gonna lay any bets this week, though.