American Idol: Top Seven Redux
Due to the (premature use of the) save of Matt Giraud last week, we are still at 7... and two people MUST go home on Wednesday night. I will tell you that I am drinking a Smirnoff Ice Watermelon to help make this show more palatable. [I must tell you that I was too drunk to initially finish that sentence the first time I published this entry... Two Smirnoff Ices will do that to someone who's had gastric bypass surgery.]
Lil Rounds sang Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman -- Within the first lyrical sentence, I knew I didn't like it, especially since I cannot stand how she brings her enunciation (or LACK thereof) into her singing. For example, any word that ends with the letter L gets murdered. "Tell" becomes "tehwell" (that's the best I can explain it). This song sucked for Lil and, as the judges all seemed to say, we still don't know what kind of an artist Lil would be if she released an album. Me no likey. The judges no likey. (No amount of Smirnoff Ice Watermelon could make this performance any better.)
Kris Allen sang Donna Summer's She Works Hard for the Money -- If you were expecting disco, then the song and arrangement were just wrong. BUT, if you took it as just another song, I thought it was pretty damn good and Kris stayed true to himself as an artist. Me likey. The judges liked it for the originality and the risk he took.
Danny Gokey sang Earth, Wind, and Fire's September -- This boy has some pipes! I thought it was a fun, energetic performance. Me likey! The judges liked it as well.
Allison Iraheta sang Donna Summer's Hot Stuff -- Totally NOT disco, but she took the song and turned it into something "rock-y" that would be something she would record. Again, if you were looking for true disco, that performance/arrangement was not disco... but in and of itself, I thought it was good. Not bad enough to go home. I liked it, and the judges agreed -- Simon said it was brilliant.
Adam Lambert sang a song from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack -- If I Can't Have You -- Again, if you're thinking DISCO, this ain't it. It was phenomenal. Phen.Om.En.Al. He took a fast disco song and slowed it down and it was haunting. LOVE. [Paula cried during the performance.] Me likey, likey! The judges LOVED it -- Simon said that Adam's vocals were "immaculate"!!! I agree!!!
[Starting Smirnoff Ice Watermelon #2]
Matt Giraud sang the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive -- It was fun (and an appropriate song), and more disco-y than most of the other performances. I do think the boy can sing. I liked it, but I'm not sure it was enough to keep him. The judges seem to agree with me. Kinda half and half -- he had good vocals, but the originality was missing.
Anoop Desai sang Donna Summer's Dim All the Lights -- Let me preface this with the fact that I think he can sing... but I do not like the song, the arrangement stinks, and he was off-key frequently. As Jon said, he is UNimpressive. Bottom Three with this performance. I did like his pink sweater (I want), and he was sporting some facial hair, which made him seem older. The judges seem to agree with me.
Bottom Three: Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud
The Boot (Going Home): Toss-up between Lil Rounds (it's past her time) and Anoop Desai (song/arrangement stunk, IMHO).
The Smirnoffed ironic1 -- OUT.