Top 7: Songs From The Movies

Last week, I felt like the show had some serious promise, considering I wouldn’t have to sit through another horrible version of some sappy/crappy song that Scott MacIntyre struggles to belt out. But then it happened, Quentin Tarantino started the show with “this is American Idol“. I wasn’t sure what he was there to promote because surely the producers weren’t bringing him back to the show…again. But, to our dismay, they were. It was a few seasons ago when the show tried out guest judges that they had him on to critique the contestants, but this time he would be their mentor for the week. Now, if it didn’t work then, it probably wouldn’t work this go around either. And we were right. He brought absolutely nothing to the show and had nothing of substance to offer to the contestants during their “critiques”. And this week, due to the persistent issue of time this season (the show has run long numerous times due to Simon and Paula’s yacking), the judges were critiquing two at a time, which could be a blessing, or incredibly horrible, for those contestants that wouldn’t be critiqued by Simon Cowell, who tends to skew votes with his comments.

First up, Alison sang a predictable Aerosmith cover that showed over her capable vocal ability, but failed to show any personality. Paula, of course loved it, but went too far by comparing it to a performance of Adam Lambert, who proved to be in a different league then the rest this season with his take on “Born To Be Wild”. Anoop, safely, sang a Bryan Adams ballad, which wasn’t horrible, but he’s losing all of his fun-factor that we originally liked in the auditions. Now, he’s just a little boring, but that’s not the worst of it. The part I refuse to take more of is the constant upper lip sweat – it’s like Ruben Studdard all over again, minus about 500 lbs. Danny and Kris both delivered boring ballads, where both tried to create a “moment” for themselves, but unfortunately none will reproduce the classic Season 8 moment when Adam Lambert sang “Mad World” and brought Simon Cowell, the king of mean, to his feet. Sorry boys, you’re better off accepting your righteous spot at second, or third, or fourth…place and moving on. Lil Rounds chose “The Rose”, by Bette Midler, which the judges thought was a bad choice, but I actually liked her gospel-like take on the ending. She took the advice the judges had given and made it her own, but they’re stuck seeing her as the next Mary J., not the next Mary Mary. And Matt Giraud picked a good song choice for himself, in the same vein that has gotten him praise from the judges, but his pitch was off and it seemed to be all over the place, which is why he landed in the bottom spot this week. And from the moment we saw the unpredictable-predictable bottom 3, we knew that the judges save would come into play this week. Had Anoop been the bottom spot, the judges probably would have let him go, just based on the fact that he’s been there almost every week, it seems, but he was the first one sent to safety. And while Lil Rounds has been harshly criticized by the judges, I think they would have saved her to keep the girls going a bit in the competition. But when it was Matt’s name called as the bottom, it was clear that, as a judge favorite, he would be saved. And, although they tried to make it look like they were deliberating (minus Paula, who was off in her own world), we knew they weren’t.

So, we’re left with another week of the Top 7, and with it being Disco Week, it could be the twist of fate that poor ol’ Matt needs. His soulful voice will probably help him get his groove on during this trying week, but its Lil, Anoop, Alison, and Kris that should be worried. And Adam, we are sure he’s comfortable taking on any of the “queen’s” of disco – we wouldn’t even be surprised if he “came out” in full drag and glitter. Here’s hoping!

Enjoy!