american idol talk's blog

the finals -- top 9

by Steve Crisp
Published Apr. 1, 2009
Views: 212

Another week when anything goes courtesy of a nicely placed product mention by Apple. So many possibilities here that if anyone chooses the wrong song, they are hosed. So let's see how many chose the wrong song.

1. Anoop Desai: Caught Up by Usher. I'll give him this much -- he's really learning how to work a stage. It was a pretty good song to show his timing ability, though it didn't showcase his range to any great extent. I wouldn't buy the record, but then again, I really didn't like the song itself all that much.

2. Megan Joy: Turn Your Lights Down Low by Bob Marley. At least the tremolo fit a bit better this week, but now she needs to work on the actual notes she is trying to hit. She missed a ton of them. Megan is a jazz singer and nothing else, at least as far as we have yet seen. Her choice tonight didn't help out that single-focused image any. She simply does not belong on this type of show with its focus on commercially viable artists.

3. Danny Gokey: What Hurts The Most by Rascal Flatts. Flat, flat, flat. Missed timings with a very irritating whine in his voice. And his breath control was shot. Was he sick this week? The judges accolades actually shocked me. Was there something wrong with the audio on my sound system for the two minutes he was performing? Cause I sure didn't hear what they apparently did.

4. Allison Iraheta: Don't Speak by No Doubt. Just fantastic. Image, vocals, everything about it. She was accused of screaming at times, but that is exactly the emotion in that song.

5. Scott MacIntyre: Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel. He started out a bit pitchy with some unusual quavering on the long notes at the start, but recovered nicely. Once he got it together, he really showed his range, both in key and dynamics. Excellent runs. He put his heart into it and it shone through.

6. Matt Giraud: You Found Me by The Fray. OK, so 30 seconds into it and I was considering suicide. By the end, I had attempted to rip the veins out of my wrists with my own teeth. What a horrid performance of a horrid song. I know when the emo kids are vomiting that something is seriously amiss. Or maybe that's just the way they now show appreciation when they are the most depressed they have ever been in their lives.

7. Lil Rounds: I Surrender by Celine Dion. She took that song and gave it an R&B sound. It didn't work. Any of you remember when Pat Boone used to take the best of the old R&B tunes and turn them into white bread because radio play was not yet ready for black artists, but the songs were just too good to disappear from the racist mainstream? Boone's covers sounded ridiculous. Well, Lil Rounds just did the same thing in reverse. It was kinda like if James Brown did a cover of Afternoon Delight.

8. Adam Lambert: Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry. Would someone please just sign this kid to a four CD contract right now. Another signature song by someone who is heads above the rest. Paula mentioned Jagger and Tyler in comparison as have I. But I can now take it one better. What group -- until the appearance of Adam Lambert on the scene -- had absolutely no chance of ever getting back together again since they could never replace their former lead singer? Yes, Queen. This guy is actually good enough to replace Freddie Mercury.

9. Kris Allen: Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers. Now that's how I always thought that song should have been sung originally. Great minor chord shift in the arrangement; no, make that great arrangement. His voice was perfect for that song.

So who goes this week?

Again, a tough week to pick the loser since so many of them just didn't cut it. Here's what I would do.

I would take Megan Joy and toss her off just because she does not belong here. I would take Danny Gokey, hit him with a 2x4 upside the head, then toss him off just because he's not that good. I would take Lil Rounds and toss her off for never managing to pick the right song and blowing any chance she may have had to make a better life for her and her family. But I would take Matt Giraud, shoot him, set the remains on fire, and bury the ashes where no one would ever find them.

Matt Giraud has got to go. And even though Megan Joy needs to be sent packing, and should have been sent packing weeks ago, Matt has just taken dreck to a whole new level.

Filed under: Music