American Idol 8.4 - The Top 9 sing i-Tunes

Michael Sarver was sent packing last week. He wasn’t the worst of the night, but he wasn’t going to last anyway, so it’s no big deal that he’s the one who went home.

Hmmm… there are a couple really bad looks tonight. I hope the performances are better than Allison’s dress.

The theme could be awesome or terrible – they can (and probably will) sing anything that’s a top i-Tunes download.

Anoop Desai
Caught Up – Usher
I was never a big Anoop fan. Now I’m completely over him. Maybe I’m just in the wrong demographic, but he seems like a kid trying to act like a superstar to me. He has a reasonably decent voice, but it needs to mature to really be good. And I find him completely laughable as the sexy superstar he’s trying to be.

Megan Joy
Turn Your Lights Down Low – Bob Marley
Interesting choice. I think I like it. Sort of. The song didn’t have as much energy as I would have liked. My other issue with Megan is that she is using her voice completely wrong. It makes for an interesting and unique sound, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s sustainable or if she’ll end up with a permanent case of laryngitis by the end of the season. And, as the judges are now pointing out, she seems a bit like a one trick pony. I want to know if she can take her unique, quirky style and use it for anything that would actually sell more than 2000 copies.

Danny Gokey
What Hurts the Most – Rascal Flatts
I’m not familiar with this song so I can’t comment at all on how he compares to the original. But just as Danny, I really like it. I would listen to this if it came on the radio. I would buy the CD. That’s the gold standard here – would the record sell. I think the answer is very much yes. Very nice performance tonight.

Allison Iraheta
Don’t Speak – No Doubt
I’m not sure the guitar was a great idea – it threw off her rhythm in a couple of spots. And it is keeping her tied to place on the stage which also isn’t helping her. One of her strongest aspects is the way she uses the stage – and she didn’t use the stage tonight. If she had ditched the guitar completely once she stopped playing it would have been better. Vocally I thought she was good, but it lacked energy… probably because she was standing still. I already commented on the dress in my opening comments – nothing more need be said about it here.

Scott MacIntyre
Just the Way You Are – Billy Joel
I have to wonder how Scott intends to make a name for himself by singing someone else’s signature song. This is a very piano bar performance that I don’t think compares very favorably with the original. The song is dated and didn’t do anything to make Scott seem more relevant. His vocal was OK, but honestly I was a little bored. I think he’s more interesting doing more up-tempo, boogie-woogie or honkey-tonk style piano.

Matt Giraud
You Found Me – The Fray
His pitch started out all over the place. I wonder if he was negatively affected by having his keyboard set up in the mosh pit where he was surrounded by a bunch of girls. Maybe the hormones got to him. He got a little stronger as he went on, but overall I thought that was an especially poor performance by Mr. Matt. After last week I really thought he might make it to the final four. This week I was unimpressed and resume my prior opinion of Matt which is that I wouldn’t be bothered if he went home sooner rather than later.

Lil Rounds
I Surrender – Celine Dion
Cute hair this week. Unfortunately, this was, again, the wrong song choice for Lil. Or maybe she just doesn’t have the chops she seemed to have during the auditions. Her pitch is all over the place. Her tone is not nice. She sounds unsupported and uninspiring. Bleh. And the judges are lying to her – or they’re hearing something that didn’t come across on the TV – because they’re saying they liked the performance despite the lousy song choice. What????

Adam Lambert
Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
I’m sold. Adam wins. He will either win the whole season, or he will come in 3rd (like so many great contestants have) and have the runaway career that the Idol producers will always regret being able to cash in on. I thought that was amazing and I revise my opinion from earlier in the season. I used to think he was just “theater” and mostly a put-on, but I’m becoming convinced the real deal.

Kris Allen
Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
Wait – isn’t Kris the guitar dude? He’s doing this one at the keyboard with a string section sharing the stage with him. Way to change it up. I’m not sure I like the “I know, I know” part of his arrangement, but otherwise I thought it was really good. His vocals were dead on. I think maybe he has the #2 performance of the night, right behind Adam.

The top performers this evening are clearly Adam, Kris, and Allison/Danny (depending on your musical taste).

The bottom three tonight are Lil, Anoop and Megan. And unless Vote For the Worst has their way, Megan will be hitting the bricks tomorrow night.