American Recap: Kris Allen And Anoop Desai Conquer Redemption, Adam Lambert And Michael Sarver Fizzle Out

The Top 11 finalists vying to be the next American Idol, delivered some of the great songs performed by members of the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday's show.

Country week, which featured guest mentor Randy Travis, really has a way of showing you who can go the distance, given most of the contestants, lack a right-hand familiarity with the genre. Meaning their forced to learn a song and perfect it, while still remaining true to their own original artistry.

Michael Sarver - "Ain't Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up"

I, like many, thought this would be Michael's week to shine, but it was quite the contrary. Aside from the vocals, which are always decent (at best), Michael just didn't have the personality to pull off this type of song, which made it boring and forgettable.

Kris Allen - "Make You Feel My Love"

Saying goodbye to his guitar for a week, cutie Kris Allen took center stage with a Garth Brooks' ballad, that keyed in on his spot on vocals and displayed his control. He didn't over do it, the performance was simple and straight to the point, and I thought everything about it was absolutely fantastic.

Matt Giraud - "So Small"

AMAZING! I love that he created his own persona for the song and didn't let the original overshadow him. Like Simon said, Matt is one of the few contestants who hasn't received adequate praise for just how good he is and this performance speak volumes to that.

Adam Lambert - "Ring Of Fire"

Adam? Adam? Adam? It was horrible and in the words of Simon, very "self-indulgent". Adam didn't seem care about the audience or the fact that it was country week, given he cut every single drop of country influence from the song, which made the entire performance feel pointless. I'm all for changing a song around to fit your style or vibe, but Adam took it extremely too far.

Lil Rounds - "Independence Day"

Lil Rounds was the spokesperson for making the wrong decision, trying to make her voice fit country instead of conforming country to fit her voice. She is a power singer, but the Martina McBride ballad was extremely too rangy and complex for her soulful pipes.

Anoop Desai - "Always On My Mind"

"From zero to hero", is what this performance has Simon chanting, and I have to echo that very statement. His vocals were lush and powerful, and for the lack of a better phrase, the performance just worked. A complete 360 from that disaster he delivered last week.

Allison Iraheta - "Blame It On Your Heart"

Allison has an amazing voice, especially for someone who's sixteen, but sadly both of her performances for the past two weeks, have failed to live up to her take on the Heart classic, "Alone". That said, the performance wasn't bad, but Allison is capable of so much more.

Scott MacIntyre - "Wild Angels"

I'm honestly still baffled as to how Scott has made it this far, given he's not that great of a singer and all of his performances are like one big sleeping pill. Take this week and compare it to last week, and you'll see that Scott has also failed to show any originality or even a hint of versatility. For once, I actually agree with Paula, because I really think a week or two away from the piano will really benefit him.

Alexis Grace - "Jolene"

My problem with Alexis continues to be, that she thinks she's a much better singer than she actually is, and though I admire her for trying to take risks with her song choices, they fail to pay off because the songs are too ambitious for her range. "Jolene", was the prime example of this, because she struggled through the verses and couldn't sing the chorus in its original register. I still didn't think she was the worst this week, but I definitely can't argue with America's decision.

Danny Gokey - "Jesus Take The Wheel"
Danny has a really strong and rich texture to his voice, but that didn't stop him from struggling through the beginning of the performance. That said, he tapped into his magic midway through and delivered a traditional Danny performance, that wasn't perfect, but still loads ahead of most of the competition.

Megan Joy - "Walking After Midnight"
I truly believe the is some good in Megan's voice, because at times, she reeks of Amy Winehouse or Duffy, but then she sings a couple more lines and quickly dissolves those comparisons. She's goofy, the dancing is horrific, as are her childish song choices, and put simply she has yet to show she's deserving of being in this competition. Despite continuously getting praise from the judges, America is only going to give you so long to prove yourself, and delivering a couple, and a stress couple of good notes here and there, just isn't going to fly.

Note:
I had originally planned to do this post with videos, but since there constantly being yanked down, I axed that idea and this will be the format from here on out. I had Michael and Alexis pegged for the bottom three, along with Adam, but Allision was kind of a shock for me, especially since a couple of contestants were far worse. Next week, I'm going to try to get this post up prior to the results so I can actually make predictions.