It's time to get out your cowboy hat and boots and celebrate country music on American Idol this week! More specifically, the songs featured on this week's Idol come from artists who belong to the coveted Grand Ole Opry. This week also is the first of the mentor weeks as Randy Travis gives his advice about each of the contestant's songs. There isn't a huge amount of recent country artists included in the Grand Old Opry, from what I understand. So the contestants have a choice of picking songs that go way back to the Country-Western times. Somehow I don't think they want to be classified as being too "old-fashioned" either. Seeing that Carrie Underwood is a member of the Grand Old Opry, how much you wanna bet that we'll be seeing one or two of her songs featured by this week's contestants? I guess we'll find out.Michael Sarver - "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up" : Country seems to fit Michael well even though he's made comments previously that it's not the kind of music he wants to sing. It's a very fast, upbeat country song. He appears extremely comfortable on stage singing this song, even interacting with the audience. Michael does a nice effort with this performance. It involved plenty of risk especially with a song that moves as fast as this; it could've been very easy for him to stumble and forget a lyric or two. It was a good performance, but not spectacular. Agreed with Randy in that it didn't show off his vocal abilities like it could've.
Allison Iraheta - "Blame it on Your Heart" : A very rock-country type of song for Allison. I am not familiar with this song but I am going to assume the original does not have this much of a rock flair to it. Allison infused her own rock edge to it and it fit her personality to a T. She plays to her strengths and does a nice job. She is having lots of fun; seems very comfortable moving around on stage. I do think that her lack of a large fan base may end up hurting her at this stage of the competition. She's been a solid performer, but typically the American audience doesn't embrace a female rocker like Allison.
Kris Allen - "To Make You Feel My Love" : Kris is going without his guitar tonight which I think is a very good move. I always feel that by mixing it up week after week, it shows off more variety. Kris shows a very vulnerable side to him with this performance. I think he's been getting better and better with each week. I tend to agree that he's probably better at singing ballads than more of the up-tempo songs. I could really feel his connection that he had with this song and he's definitely doing the right things to stay in this competition.
Lil Rounds - "Independence Day" : I thought the low notes in the early part of the song were too low for Lil and she struggled a bit there. She tried singing a straight country song and I don't think it quite fit her. She certainly could've included a more R' n B edge to the song and probably would've had much better success with it. I don't agree that a different song (such as Randy's suggestion of "I Will Always Love You) would've done Lil any better either. The performance definitely got much better in the later half of the song where she was able to hit those power notes like she usually does. This week certainly wasn't as strong as Lil has been.
Adam Lambert - "Ring of Fire" : I can empathize with Randy Travis in how he was speechless over Adam. I mean, what can you really say about this? It started out very intense. It almost seemed as if I was watching a Broadway rendition of this classic Johnny Cash song. He starts to infuse his usual vocal dynamics into the song once the tempo picks up. This whole performance has a very different sound to it; no question it has more of a middle eastern flair to it. I can say I've never seen anything like it on American Idol. Honestly, this is supposed to be country week, right? One thing you can say about Adam is that he is entertaining.
Scott MacIntyre - "Wild Angels" : I can tell Scott enjoys picking songs that tell a message. Again as I've said before, Scott isn't the most dynamic singer during this season of Idol - but he definitely holds his own. He struggled more with the lower notes in this song. I would tend to agree that he shouldn't always be playing the piano during his live performances but then again, he's not going to be moving steadily across the stage without it, either. He's doing what he feels is most comfortable to him. The falsetto note towards the end of the song wasn't great. Overall, I'd say it was a good performance from Scott, but not great.
Alexis Grace - "Jolene" : It will be interesting to see how Alexis pulls this one out. We're used to seeing her sing rock songs with a harder edge. "Jolene" is more of a softer tune and Alexis even said she wanted to show that side of her. I don't entirely believe it was the right song choice for this particular week. Overall, she struggles a bit with the song and is off-tune throughout. The arrangement just wasn't as favorable for her to be successful this week, either. Basically, it was just an okay performance and actually was quite forgettable. A rare off week for Alexis so far in the competition.
Danny Gokey - "Jesus Take The Wheel" : There's always a certain risk to choosing a song that has been created by a former Idol. I think a different song would've suited Danny better, especially one that wasn't so low or bland to start. The front part of the song just sounded awkward to me; even though that's how it's supposed to sound. Of course be rebounded well with the later half of the song once the tempo picked up and he was able to get into his upper register. That is typical of Danny's performances there. He's a very likable guy, but this week he was just good for me, not great.
Anoop Desai - "You Were Always on My Mind" : Anoop goes the Kris Allen route and performs a softer, vulnerable ballad. It's a perfect song choice because it allows Anoop to show off his vocal talents. He is definitely much improved over the last couple of weeks. He doesn't go over board with the song and holds back more. It was definitely a much more controlled performance and he doesn't try to do too much with it. It was very well done and it's nice to see him get such great reviews from the judges. Another very likable guy.
Megan Joy - "Walking After Midnight" : We have absolutely no idea that Megan has been sick this week except after her performance is over when she starts coughing. I don't know what more you can say about Megan that hasn't already been said. The judges say time and time again that she's quirky and unique. That about sums up this performance. It was the perfect song choice for Megan and she delivered on that unique sound of hers. She made the song her own and certainly made it much more memorable. And actually, it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
Matt Giraud - "So Small" : Whenever I think of Matt, I just can't get his Coldplay performance out of my head. He has been severely damaged because of that and hopefully as we move further along in the competition, that performance in particular can be all but a memory. He is a super-talented guy and there's no question he belongs in this competition. He does a very impressive job with this Carrie Underwood song. He is a true consummate musician - I think he nailed this song tonight and it proved to be a very memorable performance.
So how did the contestants fair? Here is tonight's performance rankings:
1.) Matt Giraud
2.) Anoop Desai
3.) Kris Allen
4.) Allison Iraheta
5.) Adam Lambert
6.) Danny Gokey
7.) Megan Joy
8.) Michael Sarver
9.) Lil Rounds
10.) Alexis Grace (actual eliminee 3/19/09)
11.) Scott MacIntyre
CODES:
best of the night
in danger of being eliminated
As for who will be eliminated tonight - now that is a very tough call. Even though I've had a very tough time connecting with every one of the contestants this year, they are all extremely talented. I thought these last couple of weeks have been very strong, vocal-wise. In my opinion, the top six in this week's performance rankings are a lock and in no risk of going home anytime soon. Adam, Anoop, and Danny have such huge fan bases. Allison has been consistently strong each and every week even though her fan base isn't quite as big as the three guys mentioned. Kris Allen has been improving with each week and is quickly becoming a fan favorite. And then there's Matt Giraud who we know is an amazing musician. He stumbled pretty seriously after his Coldplay performance but quickly picked himself back up and is making a strong push towards the later stages of this competition.
Now as for the bottom five of the performance rankings, the only one that could be considered a pretty sure lock to stay in this competition for a long time is Lil Rounds. She, too, has a pretty strong fan base. Megan, Michael, and Scott are basically just cannon fodder. It'll only be a matter of time before they get eliminated. As for Alexis, she also has a relatively small fan base and one weak performance like this week's could leave her in serious danger. That is why I am picking Alexis Grace to be this week's eliminated contestant on American Idol. I know, it's a mild-shocker seeing how well she has done in prior weeks. But does anyone see her outlasting Adam, Danny, Anoop, or Matt? The males truly are the stronger of the gender this season and the only female contestant that stands a chance to last awhile is Lil, and maybe Allison, too. It could be a very, very interesting results show tonight. Don't miss it!
(UPDATE: Sad to say, but I ended up being right - Alexis is eliminated. It is never easy, especially someone with her talent. Only one sub-par performance was all it took for her to be booted off. I am disappointed she is gone, to say the least.)
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