American Idol: Top Seven
Tonight the finalists are singing movie songs with Quentin Tarantino as the guest mentor. Only two judges will comment per finalist to keep the show under an hour.
[Note on last week: I finally got to watch my TiVoed episodes from last week when I was on hiatus in Vegas... the show didn't come alive until about halfway through.... and my favorite performances were Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, and Adam Lambert. Scott MacIntyre was the right choice to send home.]
Allison Iraheta sang Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing -- I keep saying she's Kelly Clarkson and Pink! all rolled up in one....I didn't like the arrangement of the song, but SHE sang it well. I think she gets better each week. The judges liked her performance.
Anoop Desai sang Bryan Adams' Everything I Do, I Do For You -- I liked his version and his voice was very smooth and steady. I didn't automatically think 'Bryan Adams' when I heard him sing. I think it was one of his best performances. The judges liked his performance.
Adam Lambert sang Born to Be Wild from the movie Easy Rider -- I am continually entertained by this person. Continually. He has such control of his voice! LOVE. The judges loved his performance.
Matt Giraud sang Bryan Adams' Have You Ever Loved a Woman -- He played the piano and did a pretty decent job... except after he hit the falsetto -- he came down and was rather off-key. Overall, it was a nice performance, though often off-key. The judges seemed to think he missed the mark with the song because he took a rock-ish song and totally made it a ballad.
Danny Gokey sang Lionel Ritchie's Endless Love -- I thought it started off a bit shaky... but damn! From the middle to the end, it was excellent. The judges agreed, but Simon was a bit disappointed that Danny didn't do more to make it more exciting.
Kris Allen sang Falling Slowly from the movie Once -- [the only reason I know this song is because we have a stretch routine to it in Jazzercise] I thought it was really well done. Randy didn't quite like it (he thought it was pitchy) and Kara applauded him for doing a little-known song and thought he did it very well. I agree with Kara.
Lil Rounds sang a song written by Amanda McBroom for Bette Midler in The Rose -- She gave it a gospel twist in the middle, which was OK, but I thought she was all over the place pitch-wise. Paula loved it (she loves everything) and Simon didn't get it -- she keeps singing "older" songs and not showing us what she would do as a current pop artist. Which is the idea of the show...
Bottom Three: Matt Giraud, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds
Going Home (AKA The Boot): Lil Rounds
Tomorrow night: performances by Miley Cyrus and J-Hud (Jennifer Hudson).