The Top 10 finalists competing for the title of American Idol, took the stage to perform from the historic catalog of Motown Records.With a catalog including classics by Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Temptations, and this week's mentor Smokey Robinson, these songs have been covered numerous times by great artists, which places an extremely daunting task on the contestants of trying to make the song their own and avoid coming across as amateurish or karaoke.
This week, definitely marked a challenge that saw some contestants, you would've thought would do poorly, to rise to the occasion, and ones that you thought would knock it out of the ball park, manage to barely spark an interest.
Matt Giraud - "Let's Get It On"
When it comes to, "Let's Get It On", by the legendary Marvin Gaye, it's normally one of those songs that I think should remained untouched because no one is ever going to sing it or do it more justice than the original, but I have nothing but praises for Matt. He offered a refreshing take on the song and his vocals were spot on, as Paula stated. I love how he started slow and intimate with the piano and then took it to a grander scale and effectively entertained the audience. For me, Matt is three for three with his performances and has quickly become my favorite contestant in the entire competition.
Kris Allen - "How Sweet It Is"
As Smokey Robinson adequately pointed out, this song, which is another Marvin Gaye classic, is very strict in it's melody, which leaves very little room or hope to make the song come across as a complete original. That said, Kris really worked it out with his guitar and changed it up enough, that it came across as just that. It was a really strong performance and it's just something about Kris' voice that entraps you, which is never a bad thing. In addition, when it comes to thinking beyond American Idol, he's one of the only contestants that I think could really be marketed into a long-term successful artist, because Taylor Hicks has clearly proven winning the competition doesn't guarantee you that.
Scott MacIntyre - "You Can't Hurry Love"
This marks the third consecutive week, that Scott delivered a snooze worthy performance, that I can't reward with any type of positive response. That aside, I will give him props for trying to change the arrangement and choosing a song that had some tempo, but sadly that didn't stop the performance from being as dull and unenjoyable, as his last two.
Megan Joy - "For Once In My Life"
If it wasn't clear before, then Megan made it evidently clear last night that her faults don't lay in song choices, arrangements, or anything of that nature, but rather her flaccid voice that just doesn't have the strength to go the distance in this competition. From start to finish, her vocals and all around childish demeanor, were just horrific.
Anoop Desai - "Ooh Baby Baby"
After his success last week, Anoop went with another slow track in the form of, "Ooh Baby Baby", which was originally sung by mentor Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. It definitely wasn't a perfect performance, which the judges pointed out by stating he suffered some pitch problems, but I thought overall it worked. His vocals were strong and he made solid transitions from his full voice into his falsetto.
Michael Sarver - "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"
When it comes to, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg", which was originally song by The Tempations, I have to say it's another one of those songs that's just better left alone. Especially, since no matter what changes are made, at best its going to come off as good karaoke version of the original. Another one of my biggest problems with Michael is that I don't feel like he has a clear grasp on who he is as an artist, given one week he is talking about his country roots and the next he's trying to play the soul man. The performance was a mess and he never managed to plant his feet on solid ground, plus the attempts at the riffs and runs were horrendous.
Lil Rounds - "Heat Wave"
When I heard that Lil Rounds was singing, "Heat Wave", I immediately knew it would be an univiting performance, after all this is the very same song that past superior Idol divas Jennifer Hudson and Kimberly Locke failed to pull off. To be fair, it's probably one of, if not the most stylized song of the Motown era, making it nearly impossible to make the song even the slightess bit original. She screamed and hollered for most of the performance, and lacked a connection with the audience or the stage.
Adam Lambert - "Tracks Of My Tears"
I've been rather hard on Adam for the past two weeks, and rightfully so, but this performance has singlehandedly made me a believer. Everything about the performance was top notched, great vocals, originality, and his newly cleaned up looked. I absolutely loved it all and it was the best performance of the night, by a mile.
Danny Gokey - "Get Ready"
Honestly, after Adam's incredible performance, everything that followed was just going to seem extremely second rate. Danny chose the upbeat, "Get Ready", because he thought it was fun song, which it is, but I didn't think it was the smartest song choice. That aside, Danny delivered his signature killer vocals and didn't allow the stage to consume him.
Allison Iraheta - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"
Allison is another contestant that I haven't lavished with praise, mainly because she's only sixteen and comes across as a forty year old, and I don't mean that in a good way. That said, there's absolutely no denying that she has a great voice or that she delivered a great performance this week.
PREDICTIONS
Bottom 3: Michael Sarver, Megan Joy, and Scott MacIntyre, but given her choice of song, I would be surprised if Lil Rounds switched with one of the three.
Who's Going Home: Michael Sarvar.
No comments:
Post a Comment