DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT KRIS WAS WEARING LAMBERT'S NAIL POLISH DURING THE ARKANSAS VISIT? Wow, did the top three of yore actually sing three songs each in an hour? Inconceivable. By this point, anyone who didn't set their DVR for spillover deserves what they get. On with the show!
JUDGES' CHOICE.
You Put Your Left Foot In -- "Dance Little Sister"
By far the hippest Danny Gokey we've seen since we started this whole thing back in January. Except for the doo-doo-dooing with mini-Clarence, which was a little bit cheeseball. He also got a turn with the Kris Allen wardrobe crew, who gave him one of Kris's vaguely-military jackets. It's a good look for him. All that being said, I was really excited for this song when I listened to the original earlier today, and wasn't as excited after hearing Danny's actual performance. -- Kim
A little hoarse and shouty, but pretty good. He was hurt by putting the Idol Orchestra up in the sky again; he'd have been better served surrounded by the band. Anywhere earlier in the competition, he'd be completely safe with this. -- Adam
Kris -- "Apologize"
When Kris tries to sell a song emotionally, it feels real. Had a little trouble with the high note at the start of the chorus, but overall this was a lovely, heartfelt performance. I just feel badly that I didn't "get" Kris earlier in the competition. P.S. to Kara: thank you for the sign language explaining what "acoustic guitar" means -- ah, strummy strummy! -- Adam
I am once again to be praised for appreciating Kris way back when. It bugs me, though: when Kris was picking the arrangement for this song, he knew -- even if the judges (theoretically) didn't -- what he was going to do for his second song, so of course he couldn't arrange it the way Kara et al. thought he should. Hmph. Yes, it was extremely faithful to the original, but it was really pretty and nice and in the heart of Kris's strike zone. I also love that he's the only one of the final three who can play an instrument and that he chose to showcase those talents. (Had we seen Kris behind the big piano previously?) In the battle for the second spot in the finals, round one to Kris. -- Kim
The Lambert -- "One"
Very, very nice. And very Lamberty without feeling like a rehash of the slow-croony stuff. Let me note for a moment how good he looked for this song. And I don't mean that in a squeeing sort of way. I love the guy as an artist, but he doesn't normally look like a star. The stylists really did a great job during this first go-round. The outfit is dialed-back, the hair is wicked cute, the skin is under control. The only thing that bothered me was the little Spock ears effect of the earpieces poking out from behind his hair. -- Kim
Put that tongue back! A little bit odd on the arrangement, but his vocals, damn. The only thing I can compare him to is himself, and while it may have been a B on the Lambert Scale, it still puts a beatdown on the other two. -- Adam
CONTESTANTS' CHOICE.
You Take Your Left Foot Out -- "You Are So Beautiful"
This was not the time the time to rein it in. If you're going Joe Cocker, do A Little Help From My Friends and blow it the fuck out. Bad choice, performed competently. -- Adam
Hi, Lite-FM chick here, and I confess that I like this song. I thought the judges' ebullience was a little overgushy, but I liked this a lot more than "Dance Little Sister." You can hate Hokey Gokey if you like, but he did a good job on this one. -- Kim
Kris -- "Heartless"
Finally! Solo acoustic Kris Allen! FINALLY!! Loved it, especially after relistening to the original. A ballsy choice. But for the weird Hickesque fan support for Gokey, I'd say that Kris is a lock. But of course Gokey is Gokey, so who knows. -- Kim
My wife disagrees, but I thought it was brilliant. If the goal is the find The Next Pop Superstar, that's a Next Pop Superstar. Sincere, well-sold, ballsy and completely unexpected from the Bible Belt. Not a "singer's song," but a great performance -- it takes real musical smarts and confidence to take a autotuned rap song and make that out of it. Put him in the finals. -- Adam
The Lambert -- "Cryin'"
"Dear Danny, Get out your notepad. This is how you fucking sing Aerosmith. Love, Adam." Seriously, to take an artist that your principal competition botched, and do it yourself the next week? We've never seen anyone do something so in-your-face before on the show, and needless to say it kicked ass. Text VOTE to 5703, people. Over and over again. -- Adam
Seriously. THAT'S how you scream your ass off on the Idol stage. I have to say, though, that it was an oddly terrible choice to have one of the backup singers doing melody along with Lambert, apparently miked at full strength. Fortunately that went away after a while, because it was kind of intolerable up until that point and improved immeasurably thereafter. Have we ever heard Simon say "don't fuck this voting thing up, people" so clearly before? And once again, Adam is nothing but gracious on stage, this time praising Kris and Danny. Sure, he can afford to be gracious, but he never fails to thank someone. Adam Lambert is a class act. Stop reading and start voting. -- Kim
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