THE NIGHT KRIS PLUGGED IT IN: So that's what happens when they strip out the nonsense and just let the singers sing! Pretty good show on the road to Adam v. [Kris, Danny or Allison and likely Kris], and I won't be shocked if any of the bottom four tonight go home. Yeah, even RDJJ -- that song's not a helpful one in this competition. Kim and I both have some thoughts (hers began with "I must be in a good mood or something. Other than Lil, I thought that everyone else kinda nailed it"), and we'll do it in the order that I have them ranked, just because I can:
The Lambert: Lovely. We're spoiled, because we now know what his voice can do, but that doesn't make any less impressive the way he closed this one. But enough of Crooner Adam -- for the Finals can we see him like in the Zodiac show? (Adam)
Gorgeous vocal as always, but not my favorite. I found it to be a little too squirmily dramatic, and I hated both the suit and the hair. But those are small nits in the grand scheme of things. He’s fabulous, but the slow falsetto croony thing no longer has the power to surprise us. Nor does the Mick/Axl/Tyler commanding of the stage. We expect these sorts of things from Adam now, and there are more than a few weeks between now and the finals. What’s he going to do to keep us dazzled and voting? (Kim)
Kris: Just perfect. It's about time we actually heard the guitar, and Kris demonstrated himself to be the artist we kinda sorta thought he was the whole time. I remember when I saw Liz Phair during the Guyville tour and her opening act was some random skiffle duo that rearranged Nine Inch Nails' "Sin" like that. Did you know that like Adam and RDJJ, he's never been bottom three? (Adam)
Ok, so it wasn’t exactly a solo acoustic performance, but it came pretty damn close. I think he beat out Adam tonight – not necessarily because it was better, although it was rather spectacular, but because it was new and unexpected. This is the kind of performance that gets people talking and voting. I continue to pat myself on the back where Kris is concerned. I feel personally responsible for his success. Is there anyone in America who doesn’t think that Kris Allen seems like a helluva nice guy? (Kim)
Allison: I'm not entirely sure why you'd combine "Hot Stuff" with a "Dirty Diana" feel, other than to slow it down. Did little for me artistically, but she's just so good at what she does. The only question is how wide the range of "what she does" is. (Adam)
Yes, yes, you can sing. But no, no, you can’t dress. (In a competition where everyone else looks pretty good week in and week out, her ridiculous get-ups are starting to wear on my nerves.) And I have to say it: I’m bored. The singing was great, the performance was good, the same as it almost always is week in and week out. But to answer Adam’s question as to how wide her range is: it goes from A to maybe A-and-a-half. What is she going to do when we hit the multiple-song weeks? (Kim)
You Do the Hokey Gokey and You Turn Yourself Around: "September" is the song that eliminated Anwar Robinson, and RDJJ wasn't any better -- hoarse, stilted, unexciting. Taylor Hicks would have done it better, and I despised Taylor Hicks. (Adam)
I liked this performance a lot. Here’s the thing. Danny never surprises me, but he manages to pull off singerly performances of not-very-singerly songs. I mean, “PYT” is a pretty silly song, but in Danny’s hands it was a perfectly legitimate performance. And here, with “September,” Danny took a song that just isn’t very melodic and performed it well. “Hoarse” isn’t really a criticism where Danny’s concerned – that’s the “sexy” to which Paula (correctly) referred. He’s not an artist by any stretch, but he’d be a great front man for a wedding band. He shouldn’t win, but he does what he does well. I continue to await his Christian album after the competition ends – I suspect it’s going to be huge. (Kim)
Anoop Desai and His Playoff Beard: I did not at all get his half-assed attempts at maybe-I'll-clap-eh-never-mind. Because the vocals, until that last note, were fine -- but his unfulfilled efforts to be entertaining were bizarre. If he goes home, well, he's due. (Adam)
Not sure why Anoop got the pimp slot on this one, except that it was his turn for some pimping. It was a good performance, although not a spectacular one. I kept hoping for one or two of the little up-notes that Donna Summer did – “Dim all-LL the lights” – and was kind of disappointed that Anoop didn’t take a swing at them. I also wondered why he changed every sweet darlin’ to a sweet baby or whatever he did. (Bad, bad choice in my book, because I love a guy who can throw a darlin’ out there effectively.) If I had to pick two to go, based solely on this week, I’d send Anoop home rather than Matt. But life would be better if it were just a one-shot week. (Kim)
Matt: I could barely hear him during the first chorus. Weird falsettos. Karaoke in a hat is still karaoke. (Adam)
This was my favorite performance of his, ever. Well, maybe it’s a tie with “Part Time Lover,” but I really liked it. During the first verse, I had my one and only “OH, this is where people get the Justin Timberlake comparison” moment. It was funky and fun and different from the Bee Gees version and I had a rocking good time listening to it. Yes, it got a little creaky during the “ah-ah-ah-ah Stayin’ Alive” stuff – which, incidentally, is the kind of thing that Danny would pull off seamlessly, per my prior comments – but on the whole I thought it was surprisingly good. (Kim)
Lil: Shouty and random and bad. Sang around the song rather than singing it, and let the backup singers carry her. Gone. (Adam)
Um, bye. She just doesn’t get it. (Kim)
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