AI7: You're The Inspiration... Not!

Ok, enough about world politics and human rights records... it's Idol time.  Tonight have to muck through Idol Gives Back, but unlike last year it there will be no free passes for the Idols... after the charity is over and done with, one of them will be going home on Thursday.

This season Idol seems to have it's good weeks (i.e., Lennon/McCartney v1.0, Dolly) and bad weeks (i.e. Lennon/McCartney v2.0)... last night was the latter.  W&C favors faltered and even those that rose to the top of my rankings won't have me running to iTunes on Thursday.

So buckle down folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride... 

Your eyes are not deceiving you... I'll give you a moment... ok, have you recovered yet?

David A ("Angels") hands down was my winner of the evening... but c'mon "Inspiration" night was his to lose.  Though he didn't have me at "hello," I found the beginning to be quite snoozy... but when he hit the chorus (bridge?) it morphed into something pretty special.  I had kinda sorta knew the song, but after some research last night I found the Robbie Williams original (here's a link to the YouTube video) and immediately downloaded it from iTunes.  I recommend you do the same.  Every year there is a Idol tune I fall in absolute love with (last year Blake introduced me to Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know") and this will likely be one from this season... Williams' version soars!

A smile crossed my face when I heard Jason was doing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's (I definitely cut/pasted that in!) or the Hawaiian version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."   It's a safe bet that someone always does this song on Idol each season... and it is usually met with a big 'ole eye roll from me and an "ugh"... it has made me hate the song.  Flashback to Maui two years ago... me an hour or so into a complimentary happy hour of mai tai madness.  The strums of the ukulele start and I slur out "I loooove this song,"  much to a considerably more sober Todd's amusement (and believe me, he hasn't let me forget it!).  So you see this song, and particularly this version of it, has very special meaning to me... did Jason blow me over with it, no... but it made me feel good.

And what the heck is Kristy Lee doing in my Top 3?   But I have to give props to her for song choice -- fitting the night's theme and her wheelhouse pretty perfectly.  Granted with "Anyway," she took on one of the best voices in country music (Martina McBride), but in knowing she is not long for the competition, KL seems to have let go and vocally I thought it was quite good.  Given the dwindling number of Idols, I don't know if she can avoid another trip to the Bottom 3... but based on last night's performance, she doesn't deserve to be there.

Everyone Else

Brooke continued on her "eh" path with Carole King's "You Got A Friend"... she hasn't done much for me since "Let It Be."  Simon summed up everything I was thinking... it was nothing original or wow-worthy, but pleasant.   I don't know if she'll get a voting bounce-back after last week's Bottom 3 appearance, but if the Brooke faithful are abandoning ship, I wouldn't be surprised to see her there again.

Put me in the group that just didn't get David C last night... while I was pleased to see that he is not opposed to leaving his security-blanket guitar backstage this week... it probably would have served him better if he did it on a song that people were familiar with ("Innocent"???).  Given that I didn't know the song, I have to say at times I had a hard time understanding the words (don't know if that's been the case in past weeks)... and the whole outfit and the message on his palm, all was a bit wince-inducing for me.

Carly also lost me last night.. her take on Queen's "Show Must Go On" came across as quite shrieky to me and I agree with Simon that it was more than a tad "in your face" for a night that was supposed to provide inspiration... if anything, she scared me.

Michael opened the show with Aerosmith's "Dream On"... and while I thought it was quite good... my internal dialogue was "Don't do the Steve Tyler scream at the end, don't do the Steve Tyler scream at the end..."   He does the Steve Tyler scream at the end... buzzzzz... thank you for playing Michael and see you next week (maybe... probably).  And apparently no one told Aussie Michael that the ascot didn't work last week.

And alas we arrive to Syesha who continues to break the cardinal rules of Idol... last week it was Whitney and last night, an Idol anthem... Fantasia's goose-bump season closer "I Believe."  Heck, if LaKisha couldn't pull it off last season and on inspiration/pre-Idol Gives Back night no less!... well, you just shouldn't go there.  Now, Syesha's does do well on some of the big moments in the song but her slow/low stuff is shaky and at least one big note was over-done and pitchy.

I think the Bottom 3 is up for grabs.  It would be silly to think Kristy won't be there... but Carly and Brooke seem vulnerable for a second trip to the stools... and Syesha is on an "every other week" schedule is due again... but I sense we are due for a shocker, so David C briefly landing in the bottom before being sent over to the "couch of safety" would not surprise me at all.   Now that I've named 5 of the 8, that's hedging my bets more than enough!

Comments

[Jeff]

Yeah, the whole night was sort of blah for me. I will agree that David A started kind of shaky, but that during the vocal runs the old David that we know and love was back.

P.S. While I was flipping past the commercials I caught a promo for "So You Think You Can Dance." Coming back next month! FINALLY!