Wednesday, May 6, 2009

AI Season 8: Top 4 perform rock

Ryan opens the show by telling us that the contestants didn't have a proper dress rehearsal because of some sort of stage collapse. We also find out that they will performing individually and in duets. That's new and could be exciting. Group performances are always a disaster but duets could be good.

Slash is this week's mentor and DH was thrilled to hear about it. Theoretically this week's theme should benefit Allison and Adam the most but Kris and Danny have a way of surprising us. Slash seems very mellow and cool but the dude is also very unattractive. Hey, I just live in a superficial world, I don't run it.

Adam picks "A Whole Lot of Love" by Led Zeplin. He's rocking it out with the eye liner and leather jacket. His voice is great, as always, but his performance is a little manic for my taste. I just feel like he's trying too hard. The last few notes were awesome but I wasn't wowed by the performance overall. Randy thinks that Adam transcended his Broadway roots (I'm paraphrasing). Kara is dressed in theme and calls him a rock god. Paula tells Adam he was perfect. Simon called the performance "understated" with his usual tongue in cheek commentary. He goes on to say it was awesome and will be hard for the other contestants to top.

Allison was introduced to Adam's hair stylist and is sporting some blue streaks in her pink hair. I think it looks good. She decides on "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin with Slash's advice and I am excited to hear her sing it. A great song selection for her. She sings the crap out of the song and I'm very impressed. Randy disagrees with me about her song choice because of the lack of melody (agreed) but thinks she can "sing her face off." Kara thinks she shows a lot of personality in her performance. Paula calls her fearless. Simon thought it was a great vocal but the performance was a little too reminiscent of Janis Joplin.

"Renegade" by Styx is the first duet for Kris and Danny. Kris' vocal styling isn't very well suited to the song so Danny shows him up a bit here. But they both look like they are having fun. Over all the performance was a little weak which I attribute to a lack of cohesion in the duet. Randy liked the harmonies (I assume he means in the chorus which I agree). Kara thought the sum of the parts was greater. I wonder why we need judges' commentary hear. Paula called it powerful. Simon said Danny was better than Kris and I think he didn't really get the point of a "duet."

Kris picked the Beatles "Come Together" which is a differnt vibe from the other two songs we've heard so far. Slash wasn't very effusive in his comments so I'm not expecting much here. And I'm right - a boring performance. Randy liked the vocals and loved the guitar action. Did I mention that Kris accompanied himself on the guitar? I was really bored. Kara didn't think it was a good performance. Paula praised his artistic delivery. Simon didn't like it and equated it to eating ice at lunch.

Danny picked an Aerosmith song, "Dream On." I am a little nervous for him because it can be hard to top Steven Tyler's performance. He does a good job but the ending is rough. Danny makes the last note OK but the ones leading up to it are very screechy. Randy called it "alright." Kara is glad he added swagger and edge to his performance but would have preferred a different song selection. Despite being up and dancing Paula didn't think it was a good song selection but gives him an A+ for effort. Simon said the last note was like watching a horror movie. But Simon still thinks Danny will be safe.

The last song of the night is a duet between Allison and Adam. They are singing "Slow Ride" by Fog Hat. It is a much better performance than the first duet. In fact, it feels really professional to me. Is it weird that Adam's voice is higher pitched than Allison's? They both do a great job and I can see why this closes out the show. Randy called it "da bomb." Kara said it was a great duet. Paula called it a perfect marriage. Simon thinks that the duet could have given Allison a chance to stay in the competition.

So, who is out this week? Tough call. I'm leaning towards Kris or Danny being sent home. What do you think?

SJ out.

4 comments:

T. said...

Adam was fantastic last night - first time I've really truly enjoyed his performance. That's kind of a manic song, so I was okay with the way that he sang it - he was made to sing Led Zeppelin. Allison was okay, good, but I absolutely would have picked Piece of My Heart or Me and Bobby McGee over Cry Baby. Kris was good, not great either, but I give him credit for being out of his comfort zone and putting a little funk into Come Together. Danny...oh God, Danny. He was AWFUL. He should absolutely go home. Even during the practice with Slash, I said, this is going to be painful. And it was. The judges really did not capture the awfulness that was that performance - why do they never criticize him? I think either Allison or Kris will go home tonight, which is unfortunate.

Natalie said...

Okay, so here's my thing. I don't think that the American Idol audience is necessarily a big "rock" kind of fan base so it's interesting to have the final four have to compete in this genre at this stage of the competion. However, there were some bright moments. I have no idea what the hell Adam was singing but I love him so I'll go with it. I prefer him being a bit more mellow, i.e. the brilliant Mad World which I have already downloaded on iTunes. I fear he will take Randy's advice and make a hard rock album, no thank you, I'll take my Wicked soundtrack please!!! Okay, so Kris is adorable and I kind of liked his work on Come Together, I hope he sticks around because he's fun to look at being so adorable. Allison tries awfully hard and I really liked what she did on Cry Baby but I always feel like she's the underdog. I just want her to get her bottom braces removed, that would mean alot to me. Finally there's Danny. Now, I feel for the guy because of the whole dead wife thing but he literally screamed last night and it was horrific. My cat left the room, my hearing aids started to give feedback, and I felt a little nauseous. It was awful and likening it to a "horror movie" was putting it far too mildly. this was a massacre beyond words, he should go though I'm not convinced he will. I'm afraid my friend Kris Allen may be the next to go.

A. said...

Last night's performances were just "eh" for me, all around. I agree that Allison should have picked a different Joplin song - I think she was really good but that would have made it even better. Danny was definitely the worst, what the heck was he thinking when he chose "Dream On??" Such a good song, sung by such a distinctive voice (with a range FAR different from Danny's) - no way Danny could do it justice. He should really be the one to go, but with the whole dead wife thing...

Side note: WHAT was up with Kara's hair last night? I find her more annoying every week.

Mommy, Esq. said...

Allison is going home - because Kris has a better fan base. Why does Adam want to win this thing? Makes NO sense. Kris is the better AI champion choice - he can do their annoying pop album covers and play up to the tweens.

My friend Monica called Kara's hairstyle a "fauxhawk". Love that.