When the three finalists came out, it hit me: This is all about the dudes, dudes. Normally, I'm not a big fan of the ladies on Idol (I loved Melinda Doolittle at first, but otherwise I've never loved a woman Idol contestant). Still, the lack of a woman on the stage disappointed me. This is, as Steve put it, a sausage fest. A *white* sausage fest.
One more disappointment: We don't get any of the great hometown stuff until tomorrow. Tonight, we just sit through the singing.
Now, about the singing....
Danny (Round 1): I remember thinking this last year, but are we really to think that Paula Abdul chose this relatively obscure TTD song? This was sort of a weird choice. I'm all for a TTD song...but how about "Wishing Well" or "Sign Your Name"? I thought this was kind of awkward. It feels like we're treating Danny with kid gloves. We can't give him a song that has any real emotion because--not sure if you know this--but he recently lost his wife. So we have him sing a generic song about dancing with a sister. It just felt empty.
Kris (Round 1): You all know I didn't like Kris initially. I still don't love him. But I'm outraged how the fix is in for this dude. He gets the middle slot. He's criticized by the judges for the song they picked for him. He's dubbed the "darkhorse." I didn't love this performance. I was glad Kris got to play the piano, but the orchestration behind seemed a little weird. He probably should have just done this as guy-and-his-piano thing. Still, it was not as bad as the judges wanted us to believe.
Meanwhile, are we to believe that at this point in the competition, the rules are not ironed out so that Simon thinks he could help Adam with his arrangements and Kara/Randy did not know they could do the same for Kris?! At this point, the deck is so stacked in favor of Adam, it's starting to annoy me. More on that later...
Adam (Round 2): (I guess this is a question for tomorrow, but why did Adam go to San Diego? Isn't he an LA guy? Was this because everyone knows the LA contestants (Katharine McPhee) fare poorly on this leg?) I love Adam. I love this song. So why did I want to throw up when I heard this? I think Bono was throwing up too. This was an unmitigated disaster. I would rather have had Blake from '07 beatbox his way through this song than listen to this tripe. Do we blame Simon for this? Did he tell Adam to take one of the best rock songs ever and make it into a cover by Take That? And for the record, Adam and Simon, Bono does not think this song has beautiful lyrics. He thinks it's a song about how people in "love" hurt each other.
OK, it wasn't David Cook playing baseball with barefoot kids in the DR, but I was still glad to see Carrie Underwood in Africa for an 'Idol Gives Back' update. Carrie wins my award for most improved Idol. I really disliked her during her season on Idol. She had a great voice but she seemed like a cold fish. Now, she's light, funny, and-- as always-- great looking with a great voice.
Danny (Round 2): Did I mention that I can't emotionally connect with this guy? This song was more meaningless than "Dance Little Sister." I know it's too much to expect Danny to sing "Missing You," but at this point I need an honest moment from him. Vocally, he nailed it (as always). But there's no there there. If I felt like Danny didn't have it in him (e.g., if he had the dead eyes of Kellie Pickler), I wouldn't mind the emotional wall so much. But I know he's got the emotion there. (We glimpsed it with "Deam On" last week.) Until he does it "once more with feeling," Danny's not gonna be my Idol.
Kris (Round 2): I'm so glad this guy will not die-- despite Paula's best efforts. This was the best performance of the night. By far. I seriously hope Kris makes it into the finals. At this point, I don't care whose place he takes.
Adam (Round 2): Late Aerosmith?! You have thousands of songs and you pick late Aerosmith?! What was going on with Adam tonight?! I felt like he did not show up tonight. Did the Entertainment Weekly cover go to his head? Is the 'come out of the closet' pressure getting to him? After some thought, I think I've figured it out: Adam knows he'll be better off if he loses Idol. Let's consider the Idol contestants who have musical credibility-- Melinda Doolittle, Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry. Let's consider the contestants who do not have musical credibility-- Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard. (I admit David Cook is the wildcard.) At this point, Adam has secured his record deal. He's been on the cover of magazines. He's been deemed "Idol's most exciting contestant in years." If he loses tomorrow, he has all of that plus the cred of not being the "American Idol," and the outrage of America that he got unfairly voted off. Consciously, or unconsciously, Adam knows this. That's why Adam's Eye of the Tiger was gone tonight. He doesn't need it. He's not even sure he wants it. The judges sure want it for him. And their extreme praise (i.e., begging for votes) tonight might be enough to put him over the top. But I'm not sure.
I can't begin to predict who goes tomorrow. Will the judges prevail on America to put Danny and Adam in the finals? I'm not so sure...Nobody's buying the Fox agenda these days, are they?
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