American Idol 8 – Top 5: Standards (Liveblogged!)
Apr 28, 2009 That's Hot
Who’ll set the gold standard tonight? Idol sings the Rat Pack era.
- Idol is providing two numbers for each contestant tonight, to aid in voting.
- This week’s surprise mentor is Ray star Jamie Foxx.
- Seems like they’ve got nothing but time this week, as they push the first performance to after the first commercial break. Next week’ll likely shock’em back into shape, when they presumably start singing twice each.
- Kris Allen – “The Way You Look Tonight” – Kris doesn’t stray too far out of the box, but he does add some R&B style and sings this song solidly. Good start for the evening.
- Ryan tries to play matchmaker, hooking Allison up with someone in the front row in the audience.
- Allison Iraheta – “Someone to Watch Over Me” – This sounds a lot like Kris’s performance: stick to the standard, slowed down a little, with a little of the performer’s vocal styling (this time some gravelly rock) melded in. Another great performance.
- Matt Giraud – “My Funny Valentine” – I’m not sure what to make of this one… there are parts of it that are more spoken than sung, and the first half sounds almost like he’s not comfortable with the key change. He does a decent job, but as close as this top five are, this may not be enough to keep him in the show. Simon’s got some positive reviews for him, though, which might sway the audience some. Who knows?
- Danny Gokey – “Come Rain or Come Shine” – I can see the effect of Jamie’s advice on Danny as he’s singing, in that he gives off the vibe that he’s actually feeling the music and trying to emote it. He really takes off in the last third of the song, and gives, in my opinion, the best performance of the night thus far.
- Adam Lambert – “Feeling Good” – Nothing out of the ordinary for Adam: strong performance with a signature Adam style. More solid entertainment.
I voted for: Danny twice (4, 4) and Adam twice (5, 5) (They all deserve votes, but voting for all of them does nothing but count against my SMS allowance without affecting the results. Danny and Adam would have got three votes each from me anyway, so they get the votes that are leftover after canceling out one vote for everyone.)
Predictions
Bottom three: Kris, Allison, Matt
Going home: Matt
Taylor Hicks, Natalie Cole, Jamie Foxx and the results of tonight’s vote — tomorrow night.
