AI8: Too Lil, Too Late (Week 6)

It was A Night At The Movies on IDOL last night (I know you can't tell that by the title of the post, but there was no way I was not going to use that once it entered my brain) with director and all around strange guy, Quentin Tarantino, providing the mentoring (which oddly enough I thought was slightly more helpful than the "advice" given by the "experts" who are part of the music business).

But first, I have to address this whole running over issue.  Here is my advice to help the show finish on time (thought it's our DVRs that are at fault the way the talk about it on the show)... (yo, yo, yo) don't introduce the judges, don't have Seacrest have to make a grand entrance, don't have Seacrest have to make some lame joke about Simon's age, sexuality, wardrobe, etc..., don't have Randy have to boo every time Simon is introduced, don't have the contestants walk out the 2nd time (isn't the pre "this is American Idol" intro enough?), don't have Ryan and the judges fool around when they come back from commercial breaks, cut the lame chatter between the contestants and Ryan, stop talking about running over!... whatever the case when the first contestant Allison finishe we were 16 minutes into thes show! 

Anyhow with the regards to the actual show... I thought it was pretty hard to rank the contestants... oddly enough we do seem to be down to the best with the driftwood all washed back to sea.  That said, I really got tired of all the power ballads and drippiness... thus I am doing what I threatened in previous weeks and only giving a "pass" to two of the contestants.

Adam ("Born To Be Wild") - I usually don't like the screamy version of Adam, but it seemed okay this week and dare I say a bit more in control (or maybe just appropriate) when compared to previous weeks.  But pretty much he was the only thing that registered on the musical Richter Scale last night.

Kris ("Falling Slowly") - Now granted Kris was part of this low rumbling night... but at least he didn't pick something totally goopy, granted this is a song that a whole lot of folks are not familiar with (I only remember it on the night it won the Oscar), but it is some beautiful lyrics and Kris delivered it sweetly (of course!).

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Anoop ("Everything I Do") - I was really, really close to giving Anoop a "pass" on this one... but it's just one of those songs that is just gonna be sung on IDOL by somebody at some point... but I really thought he sounded good throughout and had very good control.  Again, he's doing this type of song well... I'm just not totally convinced that he wants to be doing this kind of song (aka, that's not his "true self" or the "artist" he wants to be).

Allison ("I Don't Want To Miss A Thing") - Much like Anoop, I am being a hard-ass and faulting Allison on picking a predictable IDOL song... though I thought she did a pretty straight-thru take on the song (whereas Anoop did mix it up a bit). Still love her, but I didn't think her usual special "juice" was on display (think Paula hadn't had enough of her "juice" yet when critiquing this first performance of the night).

Lil ("The Rose") - I thought this was Lil's best performance since getting to the big stage (but still 2nd best to her only other show song, Mary J's "Be Without You" in the semis)... but getting back to the title of my post... Lil has past the point of no return and while I understand her frustration with the criticism from last night (she did put her own spin on it), she just isn't all that and a bag of chips... which I kinda sorta maybe thinks she thinks she is... and backtalking rarely seems to work on IDOL, so I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the end.

Danny ("Endless Love") - Again, another goopy ballad and one that Gokey really didn't do much with... though he did prove he can sing without glasses, so we should give him credit for that right (stepping out his comfort zone and all).  Well sung, but alas boring.

Matt ("Have You Really Ever Loved A Woman") - Matt was in full-Justin Timberlake mode last night with this one... which unfortunately is not a good thing when one is not JT.   Matt was the only contestant from last night that I thought screwed up vocally, just too runny and distracting vocal gymnastics/improv stuff.   I think Lil caused enough of a fuss to have folks rally to perhaps rally to her (though I wonder who has kept her safe most of these weeks anyhow?!), so that seems like that would put Matt in some serious danger.

Comments

[monette]

yeah, you would think with one less contestant this week, there would be no issue with time compared to last week, but of course it still went on and on! Your points above are exactly what I was thinking last night - why is all this inane chatter is going on when I'm here to listen to Simon insult people? And then he can't even insult half of them!

That being sad, while Adam still has great vocals (and how his eyes actually lit up at being compared to Rocky Horror was hilarious!), I was not wowed by any of them, including Kris. I was expecting more because I just adore Glen Hansard, but it fell a bit flat in more ways than one.

[Jeff]

Again I felt like Adam was the only one fully in control of his performance. He owned it. I love Allison, but last night she still didn't seem to command the stage. I know what you mean about Lil. I actually liked her performance (compared to previous weeks), since it was somewhat original, but her chances still aren't good.

[jen maiser]

I didn't watch this until last night and totally agree with your rankings. Ugh, I was so annoyed with the song choices. There are so many amazing movie songs and toward the end I texted a friend: "2 Bryan Adams songs, Endless Love and now The Rose? Kill me now."

I loved Kris' song. I am a big fan of Falling Slowly and loved that when he sang it I could actually hear the lyrics. And I am firmly in the Adam camp.