It was what American Idol has wanted for eight seasons - Michael Jackson night. For years, the judges have said NOT to sing a Michael Jackson song but this time, they had no choice.
I had done terrible in my predicting of songs the idols would sing as I didn't get anyone's song correct and guessed only 5 of the 13 songs that were even sung. So, I guess that was a pathetic start to my predictions but let's see how the night played out.
First of all, Paula was back to her drugged out self last night. Her head was crooked all night long and she was making little to no sense. I guess that's what makes the show so good so I hope she continues to take whatever she took last night as it made her comments that much less meaningful but that much more enjoyable.
They had announced that since we had a Top 13, there would be two people going home on the first night so that gets them back on track for a 3rd week of May finale. But, they had also announced that there would be a new twist on how the season would play out that American may not like. So, this is probably where other shows have gone or are going to avoid what happened last year - Sanjaya. In order to counter the "vote for the worst" or just have the bad singer advance, I'm saying that America will pick the bottom 3 (or maybe 4) and then the judges will either have them have a sing-off or just vote amongst themselves to eliminate someone from the competition. I'm just guessing that is what the rule change is as that is what they do on Britan's "X-Factor" show.
I had a few questions entering the evening. Would anyone attempt to do "Billie Jean" which David Cook did so perfectly last year? What over the top performance would we see from Adam Lambert? Who would just destroy a Michael song? So, let's see what happened:
First to kick off the true competition was Lil Rounds. Let me refresh your memory. She's not that old and already has three kids. I guess she didn't want the father to put those "lil rounds" over his "lil thing" to prevent the triple pregnancies. Lil's choice is "The Way You Make Me Feel" and for the first song, she does a solid job. I agree with Simon that her outfit was not the best and if you have a butt that could balance champagne glasses on it, white pants aren't the way to go. But, I like Lil. The issues is that she's totally just like Tamayra, Latoya, and Vonzell - the great R&B / soul voice that got eliminated prematurely. Lil has potential to get to the finals and should easily sail at least halfway through the competition before she's in any jeopardy. For this song, I wish she went a bit sexier as portrayed in the video but good start to the show.
Next up has been one of my favorites from the early auditions. Ladies and Gentleman, it's Scott MacIntyre - aka the next blind music star. Scott's choice to sing was "Keep The Faith" which is not one of Michael's more famous songs but I liked what he did with it. He was back in his comfort zone in front of the piano and he hit some great notes to make up for a few not so great notes but all in all, it was an enjoyable performance. He took a song that most people wouldn't know and updated it to the point where you wouldn't even know it was a MJ song. Paula adds that "Keep The Faith" was a hit in Norway; but this isn't Norway Idol...is it? Scott should sail through this round and go deep in the competition. I closed my eyes for a while to not have the B.F. - Blind Factor - affect my judging and this guy has potential to go far and should improve each week as he gets more comfortable and grows.
Following blind guy, is my early pick from a while ago to win it all - Mr. Daniel Gokey. To refresh your memory, he's the one with the dead wife who must be smiling in her grave if she's able to see what Danny does on stage. When I first heard that he was going to sing "PYT", the first word I thought was, "interesting". But Danny has this unique, raspy voice and feels so comfortable on the stage that he pulled it off. I like too that Danny is wearing a new pair of glasses each week. I think I'll have to have my company send him over a cool pair of Oscar de la Renta frames to wear when he's performing in the finals. This guy is a lock to make it to the Top 4 and had the potential to win it all but you never know. Look what happened to Daughtry who fell a few weeks short of winning but has maintained a solid career. And yes, I agree with the judges that the dancing wasn't the best. But Clay Aiken was a horrific dancer and made it to the finals so dancing isn't the tell all tale.
Then Michael Sarver , "roughneck" is up next. Michael is going to struggle in this competition as he's a bit stiff on stage and doesn't have the same stage presence as others. He has a nice voice but nice doesn't just sell records. He's a likeable guy and you want him to do good to help support his family but I just don't see that happening. I wouldn't mind him staying around a few weeks though. He sings "You Are Not Alone" and it's okay. It didn't make you say "Wow" or anything but since I like this guy, I don't want to bash him at this present time.
Jasmine Murray was up next. She has a good look to her and could appeal to the tween market if she was more consistent. She picks "I'll Be There" which I thought was a great choice for her but the pitch issues sort of hurt her performance. I think she probably should have waited a few years until her voice was more toned and mature before entering this competition as she's going to be vying for the same votes as Lil Rounds and we know who'll garner those votes between the two of them. Yes, she'll be there but "there" could be the bottom 3.
Performing next was Kris Allen who we didn't know much about until the Top 36 so his lack of screen time may hurt him. But, he has a good look that 16 year old girls would be attracted to. Plus, he comes out with the guitar. What girl doesn't like a musician playing a guitar. Even the ugly guys who make it in the business can get pretty girls as long as they can sing will and play the guitar. Even Murray from the Wiggles is supposedly a stud back in Australia. Anyway, Kris comes out with the guitar to play "Remember The Time" which is one of the worst MJ videos based in Egypt. Kris is such the underdog as people already had their favorites before even hearing Kris perform but he did a good job with this song and the guitar thing definitely enhanced his performance. I agree with Simon that he shouldn't have brought up the wife thing yet so early in the competition as some of the young girls that are attracted to him may not like that he's taken already. Kris could have the fate of Chris Richardson as they have a similar look but this Kris is much better than that Chris. I hope we get to hear this guy for a few more weeks and I think he should be easily safe for the night.
Allison Irh-tating was up next. She's the youngest contestant this season and one of the most annoying. I compare her to Amanda Overmeyer but maybe a bit better of a singer. She picks a song called "Give In To Me." Now, when I tried to predict who was going to sing what, I browsed all of Michael Jackson's three hundredish songs and if I was going to keep on guessing songs that she was going to sing, it may have taken me 290 guesses before landing on this song. First of all, it was a terrible song choice and she needed to pick a song that we have at least heard of and if it was a song we didn't know, at least make it a memorable performance. I just didn't like it. The judges are high on her for some reason but I just don't get it. Her voice annoys me. Her personality annoys me. Her pig nose annoys me. You may think I'm crazy but I think she could be in jeopardy tonight.
Anoop "Dawg" Desai was next to perform. He's so dorky looking but he's fun. He picks an interesting song - "Beat It" which you so relate to the video on so it's hard seeing anyone sing this song other than Michael Jackson. Anoop has a nice voice and he's fun on stage. He's not the best singer but he's far from the worst and what I like is that his performances entertain me. Most people may think he's a candidate to get eliminated tonight but you have to watch out for the A.D.F. - Anoop Dawg Factor. This guy has a fan base and even though he may not have been the best last night, I really think he's not going to get eliminated. And, I could be so wrong but I think he's gonna stay around a few weeks. Plus, everyone is high on Slumdog Millionaire winning the Oscar so that energy is going to keep Anoop afloat a bit longer.
Then we have Jorge Nunez, the happy Puerto Rican. Jorge chooses "Never Can Say Good-bye" which was a bit Keroeke for me. You have to love his personality and he does have a good voice. I'm not sure what is going to happen with Jorge. I almost felt that the camera angles when they gave Jorge a close-up were cheesy, almost as if he were singing on Telemundo or some Latino soap. When I didn't look, I liked his singing a bit better but Jorge could be in jeopardy tonight and that's NOT the Alex Trebeck version.
Next up we have Megan Corkrey, the pretty girl with the Carly Smithson tattooed arm. Why she did that to her arm, we'll never know but it sort of doesn't go with her look. She doesn't seem like the kind of girl to tattoo half her body. Her song choice was "Rockin Robin" and the way she moved her arms during her performance, she rocked Robin to death. In the words of Michael Jackson, this was "Bad." Like really bad. I never was a Megan fan and her performances each week got even worse. The good thing is that she misses her child so she'll soon be reunited with him. Her only hope is the horney 16 year old who is attracted to her to get her votes. But, if American doesn't have final say, she could be the odd person out.
Finally, it was Adam Lambert time. He looks so girlie with Fall Out Boy hair and bad skin on his left cheek. But, he knows how to perform. Yes, it's very theatrical and Broadwish but it's entertaining and you want to see what happens next. Adam chooses "Black or White" and rocked it. He's right up there as one of the best and it's so obvious that he has a stage presence that no other contestant has. Adam is the perfect example of what Michael Sarver doesn't have. The performance was amazing and his vocals are crazy. The one issue I have is this. I can easily see me giving him a standing ovation after a Broadway show or after any live performance but would you be able to listen to 9 to 12 songs on a CD of this in a row? Don't get me wrong; Adam is going deep. I'm just not sure if he's the lock to win this whole thing.
Another one of my early favorites was up next - Matt Giraud. It sucks for him that he had to follow Adam but was confidant that the dueling piano player would have no probably as he would be back in front of the piano where he belongs. His choice of song was "Human Nature" and it was great. He really does look a bit like Timberlake as he sang. Matt should get better each week as he gains more confidence in the judges remarks. Matt need to believe in himself and he'll go far.
Finally, Alexis Grace was to end the show which I would not have predicted. She comes across as a cute girl but I hate the pink in her hair. They need to get rid of the pink and just keep her hair blonde. She sings "Dirty Diana" and does it with soul. She's not Christina Aguilara but she's Aguilara-ish. It wasn't her best performance as I think she did better in the round of 36 but it was enough to keep her in the competition. The judges had to rush their comments based on time even though the broadcast still went over the 2 hour mark but I think I liked it a bit more than the judges did. What was weird was that Alexis' phone number ended in 36 instead of 13. If you dialed 13 last night, you would have gotten a sex line. How smart was that company to set up a phone number that matched Idol's that ended in 13. I'm sure they had a ton of callers last night.
So, let's see who's the bottom three. I would have to go with Jasmine Murray, Megan Corkrey, and Jorge Nunez. And if they do a bottom 4, I'm gonna add Allison Iraheta to the mix. I'm passing on Anoop as I think he has a fan base and the Anoop factor will come into play. So, going home will be Megan Corkrey and Jorge Nunez.
So, who Win's American Idol this year? Here's my top 5 followed by my predictions:
1. Danny Gokey
2. Adam Lambert
3. Lil Rounds
4. Scott MacIntyre
5. Matt Giraud
I'm torn who will go against Gokey in the finals as it really could be any of the other 4. But, Danny Gokey will win and I'm gonna tell you why. My wife's due date is May 31st. For our first child, we went 14 days before our due date. If you count backwards from the 31st, that gets you close to Tuesday, the 19th where the singers will perform and the following night will be the results. If I was a betting man, I'll be in the hospital when the winner will be announced. Now, we have picked out names for our future child - boy and girl. I won't give you first names but if we have a boy, the middle name we chose was Daniel. Thus, Daniel (Danny) Gokey will be announced as winner of American Idol Season 8.
But, that's a while away so let's see what happens. Until then, Birdman Out.
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