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Word has it six out of the top 10 best-selling songs on iTunes Idol list belong to Adam Lambert. Bet it'll be seven after tonight's big band/Rat Pack themed show...Let's see...
To get standards across you have to have more than the ability to sing in tune. You have to have lived and be able to make these shop-worn tunes and lyrics believable. Kris Allen lacks the gravity or charisma or talent to sell standards. Three of the judges were clearly inhaling happy gas when they gushed over Kris' feckless and cloying on The Way You Look Tonight. Only Simon, who called his performance "wet' like a "puppy," seems to understand what standards should sound like. Kris is fast becoming the most boring of the remaining five.
Wheras G-rated vanilla boy Kris was totally not believable and lifeless on his standard, 16-year-old Allison Iraheta managed to be original and believable when she sang the anguished Someone to Watch Over Me. You felt every word she sang. Was emotional and raw and earned the judge's praises (except for Simon who felt it was mechanical). I feared she'd be most likely to be voted off with this theme, but she certainly deserves to sail through over her competitors. However, to earn points with voters she might have been better off picking something livelier, much like Kelly Clarkson's Idol-defining big band performance of Stuff Like That There seven years ago.
These Idol boys are the wimpiest bunch we've seen on Idol yet. Matt Giraud is yet another crushing bore who sank the tempo of My Funny Valentine in sugary quicksand. Like Kris, a total snoozer who was not connected to the song and had not a hint of believablility. Simon and I disagree yet again tonight. This one he liked, daring to equate the phrasing with Nat King Cole's. Absurd.
Now we come to Danny Hokey (and I mean the typo)...and once again he has no voice in lower range and compensates with blustery bellowing ala Taylor Hicks at the song's conclusion. In addition, he has no sex appeal whatsoever. His Come Rain or Come Shine was all wet. And Kara is useless and dumb. She goes on and on about Danny's swagger. What swagger? Pasty doughboy sang the whole song with a goofy smile and no edge whatsoever.
Why don't the other contestants just quit? Go away? Give it up. Because Adam Lambert didn't even have to sing a note to send them all scampering home. His dramatic entrance alone showcased a performer who knows how to work a stage, sell a song, connect to a crowd and entertain. And then he did something he didn't even have to do at this point, he sang. And sang the hell out of Feeling Good flawlessly. This is why I watch American Idol (beyond having to for work, mind you). I watch for moments that are at a level you can't find in any bar or karaoke stage USA. Everyone else tonight was substandard karaoke bar (with the possible exception of Allison). Adam was and is a star. He knows more about music than anyone else. He picks songs that are left of center instead of the middle of the road (as did everyone else tonight) and he makes them sound brand new. (He supposedly sang Muse's arrangement of this tune, I'm more familiar with Michael Buble's recent recording but no matter, it's Adam's now). Four stars.
Predictions: Kris Allen was the worst tonight,even moreso than Danny. I'd send him back to the Disney set where Hannah Montana will beat him up on the playground. But I fear Allison or Matt will bring up the bottom two with voters and that it will be close. Matt will likely get the boot.
And as critical as I've been with the decision to hire Jamie Foxx as guest mentor, I'll give him props for his work. He did a decent job trying to work with this weak lineup and had some astute suggestions. It's not his fault that only Adam and Allison have the good to work with.
