Who should go: Scott MacIntyre
Who will go: Allison Iraheta (Won’t be saved)
Favs of the night: Kris Allen, Anoop Desai, Adam Lambert
*Next week’s theme is Motown*
If Dial Idol is to be believed, it will be either Alexis Grace, Allison Iraheta or Megan Joy Corkrey eliminated from Idol this week.
Would the judges use their one-time Judges Save to rescue any of these contestants? I don’t think the producers want to blow the Save this early in the season–dangling the possibility of reprieve each and every week until they finally (or maybe never) use the Save gets the most mileage out of the gimmick. It’s not all about saving a contestant.
If Allison Iraheta is eliminated, she’s toast. Just another red-haired female rocker, leaving early in the game as usual. Alexis Grace and Megan Joy Corkrey, both judges favorites, might be saved. The advantage of saving a girl would ensure a little more estrogen on the summer tour. But since the boys seem to sell the most tickets, maybe extra estrogen isn’t considered a requirement.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the producers sacrifice the girls in order to keep the Save in reserve for use later in the show, where they’d get more bang for the buck.
That Allison or Alexis is even in danger is really disappointing. They’ve both been outsinging some of the so-called favorites all season. Alexis has been particularly awesome, and I maintain that the arrangement of “Jolene” hurt her last night, not her vocals which were killer in spots. Allison shows such promise, she really is a contestant who has the potential to grow in this competition.
If I could pick, I’d eliminate Scott MacIntyre. He turns every song he sings-no matter the genre–into an 8o’s AC snoozfest. How did he mange to make his songs from both country and Michael Jackson weeks sound exactly the same? Zz. I think it’s the blind pity vote crossed with the John Tesh/Michael Boton loving demographic that’s keeping Scott in the running.
In a bleary haze last night, I picked Scott to go in the LA Times Buzzmeter poll, but I wasn’t thinking straight. Wishful thinking, peeps.
Overall, the kids put on an entertaining show last night. Randy Travis made for a thoughtful mentor, dispensing some good advice and encouragement to the contestants. Paula Abdul made so much sense last night, I found myself agreeing with her critiques more than Simon’s.
Michael Sarver, who gave the most authentically country performance last night, isn’t going anywhere this week. He was better than the judges critiques, and I think there are Idol country fans who agree with me.
Lil Rounds‘ “Independence Day” was a snooze. Simon can roll his eyes all he wants, but Paula’s point about skipping one of the verses was spot on. Not a great song choice for Lil, but a better edit would have gotten to the payoff faster. And no, Randy, she should NOT have sung “I Will Allways Love You.” Yikes.
Both brilliant and dubious, Danny Gokey’s song choice didn’t fit his vocal style. He was pitchy and uncomfortable singing the verses, and the big notes at the end were only marginally better. But choosing to sing about Jesus surely lit a fire under Danny’s Christian fan base. So the song choice–maybe not so bad after all. I don’t think Danny is going to win, but he is going to go deep.
Megan Joy Corkrey, obviously sick last night, is a tough one. She has a really interesting vocal tone, but she lacks musicality and her phrasing isn’t good. She’s verging on being a decent singer but not quite. I will give her a pass for last night, despite the flu pimping she got from the judges. Yes, that 5th time you all mentioned Megan’s flu, and Ryan bringing out that box of tissues at the end–we got it!
Adam Lambert is in a class by myself. I loved his audacious ballsy performance and admire that he stays true to his artist identity. I understand completely why some country fans didn’t enjoy that performance. I didn’t care for some of the re-arrangements of my beloved Beatles songs last year, but I maintain that this competition NEEDS Adam. I don’t always enjoy his vocal performances, but I find him compulsively watchable. Plus, he brings a sorely needed air of expectation and spontaneity to the competition. I dig that he’s not playing it safe.
Anoop Desai and Kris Allen both turned in surprisingly good performances last night. Kris showed some mettle, picking just the right song and just the right arrangement that showed off his vulnerability. He gained some new fans last night, and he could go deeper than peeps previously predicted. Anoop finally proved he can, indeed sing. What a relief. Anoop, the coolest geek evah, is fun to root for, but I was going to have to stop if he failed to bring the goods. Let’s see if he can keep playing this game smart.
Matt Giraud is quickly gaining steam. “So Small” was plagued with some pitch problems, and he still has that nervous goatie thing going on, but I thought he pulled off an effective, heartfelt performance. Don’t look now, Danny and Adam, but Matt is coming up in your rear-view mirrors.
Finally, Allison Iraheta–I loved her gritty performance of “Blame it On Your Heart”, but she’s been flying under the radar all season. I’m afraid that, and her number 2 death spot in the performance line up will do her in. I’m picking her to go tonight.
