American Idol 8 Top 8. Maybe if Kara would talk less, we could see all the contestants.
Wow. Are there still 8? At least we’re down to roughly an hour, and that makes me quite happy. What? Anoop’s still in this? It was a lovely dream I had when he was already gone. But you know, I’m glad Megan’s gone.
This is American Idol. HEY! It’s that Fringe guy, the one that cameos every episode, and he looks perfectly stoic. That made me LOL.
Oh, hahaha. Songs from the year the contestant was born. This year, they’ll probably all be from when I was in high school, and I’ll feel old.
What, no big entrance for the judges? So they can flash the baby pictures. Awwwwww. Simon is awesome. And the first ever picture of Simon, he’s like seven or eight. And Ryan, what a cutie. I know I make fun of him and all, but I really do adore that dude. Ok, adore is strong, but I dig him at least.
We’re down to two chicks.
01 Danny’s the oldest contestant (and still four years younger than me, which WOW, makes me feel old), and he’s going first, which this year is a good thing, because the last ones get cut off because of Kahra’s lengthy diatribes early in the show. Oooh. He’s doing Mickey Gilley’s version of “Stand By Me.” I like the Ben E. King version better and think it can never be improved upon, but I’ll keep an open mind. It’s really not so Gilleyish, and after the first verse… I hate the arrangement. He sings it well, and the last third is great, but ack, I hated that arrangement. Hard. RANDY: Didn’t love the arrangement. You’re amazing and I loved it even though I didn’t love the arrangement. KAHRA: Me too! But at the end you just killed it, and let me just keep going and going and going and going! PAULER: Wow. You set the bar so high that everyone who follows you is going to have to run to keep up. I love the liberties you took and the chord substitutions. SPIKE: She’s coherent yet. SARAHK: Give her a minute. SIMON: The beginning was good, the middle was lazy, and the end was terrific, so overall, great. SARAHK: Well put.
02 Kris, a guy, regardless of the spelling of his name, is next. He’s on the Tool Stool. He rode the ferris wheel, and the guy operating it said, “Hey, aren’t you the guy from American Idol? Can you say hi to Adam for me?” Haha. You must not be his type, Kris. 1985. I was nine. He’s singing “All She Wants to Do Is Dance.” Really? Just looking at the top 100 songs from that year… “St. Elmo’s Fire” would have been great, as would “Crazy For You.” I would have loved to see what he did with “One More Night,” “Raspberry Beret,” and–oh, I really wish he’d picked “We Belong” or “The Boys of Summer.” I’m being indulgent if I say “You’re The Inspiration,” because it’s really not that good an Idol song. Anyway, I’m hating his song choice here. This was bleh. KAHRA: On and on and on and on. Glad you went up-tempo, but that felt like jazz funk homework. Blahhhhdeblahhhhhdeblahhhhh. PAULER: You took one of those melodically [monotonous] songs and made it your own. You’re one of the most likable contestants we’ve ever had. SIMON: Indulgent, boring, forgettable. AUDIENCE: Kris, you’re hot! SIMON: Thank you. Well, so am I, but it’s not about that. Where I got disappointed was that you came over as a guitarist who wanted to sing rather than a singer. Stupid, stupid song choice. SARAHK: Yes, thank you. RANDY: I was listening more to the music and lost you. RYAN: Simon, your critique was indulgent and predictable. SARAHK: I do like Ryan.
03 Lil’s mom wants to clear up. Mom named her after her grama Lily or something. Just Lil. Period. Oh, awesome. Please be good. She’s singing 1984’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” easily in my top five of that year (what an amazing year for music!) Haha. I can’t hear “new direction” without thinking “nude erection.” I’m sorry, but I crack up every time. She’s doing a fantastic job. Other than the mic fade at the end (that drives me nuts about her, srsly, please stop), I loved it. It was great. PAULER: You look great. SARAHK: WHAT?! PAULER: This was a really important week for you to go outside the box and do your own thing. You’re a great vocalist but that only gets you so far. I don’t feel you created your own niche. I feel that it’s becoming a beautiful karaoke rendition. SARAHK: What? SIMON: We’re not looking for second or third rate Tina Turner. Ghastly copycat performance. It’s literally like we have lost you. You’re not making the impact you should be making. You’ve got to start becoming original. PAULER: That’s what I said. SIMON: Yes, but I make sense. SARAHK: No one is making sense right now. RANDY: That year, there’s an amazing bunch of songs you could have sung. It’s just not clicking right now. I don’t know. KAHRA: It’s about making that leap from singer to artist. SIMON [cutting her off, because she’s so freaking longwinded]: So overall, it’s quite good news.
04 Asnooze, I mean Anoop is gonna do “True Colors.” Dude, you butcher a Cyndi Lauper song, and I will fly to L.A. and brain you in person. SARAHK: Awww. Seeing Anoop makes me sad about Kutner. SPIKE: Poor chap. He found out he was going to work for Obama, and he blew his brains out. Sad but understandable. RYAN said something last week to Kahra, apparently overreacting, and he’s all apologetic. Well, I don’t know what the ABCD is talking about at all–probably because he was forgettable last week. Ok, the performance. I promise to watch it with my eyes closed so I’m not influenced by his pulling of faces, always a turnoff. Huh. Surprisingly, that was actually pretty good. Votable, even. RANDY: Check it out, dawg. Congrats to NC. SARAHK: Nobody cares about basketball. RANDY: Dude, you can actually sing. KAHRA: Tonight, you controlled the song, you did not let it control you. And I will expound with a great number of words. PAULER: Flawless, beautiful, like a rainbow. Best performance so far. SIMON: You’re like a singing yo-yo. Take a song, make it your version. I don’t think it was fantastic, and BTW, let me say something. You don’t have to apologize for reacting to what we say. We can be horrible to you, and you can be horrible back. RYAN: Kumbayah. SPIKE: Does he even know what that means? SARAHK: Come by here. SPIKE: Well, of course you know, love.
05 Scott, what a cute baby, is singing “The Search is Over” (Survivor). He’s behind a guitar at the mic stand instead of behind the piano. It’s pitchydawg. Good, not great. He needs the piano, and he doesn’t need to apologize for that. KAHRA: I commend you for playing the guitar. You took on a very difficult song. Good moments, off moments. Not your best, but now I’ve gone on too long for SarahK to pay attention. PAULER: I give you credit for stepping away from the comfort zone of the piano. I was confused when I saw you playing electric guitar, I would have picked acoustic. SCOTT: It’s my punk side coming out. SARAHK: I heart him. PAULER: Screeching at times. But overall, bravo. SARAHK: This is YOUR fault, Pohlar. Your fault. SIMON: Scott, I would suggest you go back to the piano next week. That’s where you’re comfortable. The song was horrible. SCOTT: It wasn’t *that* bad. SIMON: And the guitar playing wasn’t that much better. Weird. So many songs you could have chosen. I think Pohlar’s advice was wrong. RANDY: It was just all okay. It didn’t show you as a star. Leap off the stage vocally. SCOTT: At least I’m versatile, though. SARAHK: If you say so. Stay at the piano.
06 Allison was born in 1992. I was a sophomore in high school. Her mom says she talked a LOT. She even asked the doctor about it, and he said, she’s gonna be a star, a singer. So there you go. Singing “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Come on, girl, pronunciate, as Diana Ross would say. Hmm. That was good, better enunciated. Subdued to the point of almost boring. Maybe too subdued. Wow, that dress is just hideous. PAULER: What’s so great about having you in this competition, you just hear one note, and it’s undeniably Allison. I loved that you had tenderness. You gave all of your heart. This is the perfect example of the same arrangement as the original, but you made it your own. SIMON: I thought that was very good, I did. We’ve just got to sort you out and make you likable. When your mother said you talk too much, you need to become a child again, lighten up. RANDY: Kelly Clarkson! She can sing her face off, and so can you! You can really sing! SIMON: Cool beans. KAHRA: Talent! You cannot find that. Let’s go make a record. SPIKE: That was uncharacteristically succinct for Kahra.
07 Matt was born in 1985. What a cute kid. Singing Stevie Wonder, and as y’all know… from me that’s gonna be a big fat blerg. “Part Time Lover.” Wow, that couldn’t have done less for me. RANDY: Yo yo yo yo. Vocally, one of the best of the night. SARAHK: Entertainingly, teh boring. KAHRA: Amazing! PAULER: Standing O! SIMON: Million times better than last week. Well done. SARAHK: Maybe it’s because I’m prejudiced against people doing Stevie Wonder on Idol? It’s only thirty seconds later, and I can’t even remember it.
Huh, it’s a good thing we record Fringe, because when Idol ended, we were in commercial break before Adam. I think that does Adam a disservice, and I hope he survives it, though I should probably see his performance before I say that. Sometimes the crazy from him is just too much.
08 Adam’s from 1982. He loved playing dressup, but notsomuch with the sports. He’s been teh ghey from the very beginning (he didn’t say that, but one can make a logical conclusion). Singing “Mad World,” and oom. This should be good. And he does not disappoint. There’s no other even close to him tonight. Breathtakingish. Bravo. Winner. SIMON: The bad new is we’re running out of time. The good news is I’m gonna be the only one talking, and I’m gonna give you a standing ovation.
Well, that says it all. Simon never ever does that. And I was totally blown away. So we have a clear winner tonight.
Adam**********
Danny*****
Lil****
Allison****
Anoop***
Scott
Kris
Matt
Alice? ALICE: I’m still fanning myself over Adam. JASPER: Adam must die. ALICE: Bottom three: Scott, Lil, Matt. Going home… It’s unclear. I’ll go with Scott. The judges won’t save him, because he can’t win.
7 Snarkbacks to “American Idol 8 Top 8. Maybe if Kara would talk less, we could see all the contestants.”
Snarkback!
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April 8th, 2009 at 11:52 am
YOU feel old? Technically I could be any one of their mother (albeit a YOUNG mother)
I’m down to not caring about any of them except Adam, Allison and Danny (he is consistant and I love his voice)…..although Kris has grown on me (yet, I hated this week’s performance. What’s this stupidity with having the groupies flock around them?). I’m done with Matt, cuz I hate that Stevie song.
I loved Mad World. Old Tears for Fears was really good…..bought it the year it came out…told you I’m old :(
I’m not sure why you were lovin’ on Lil this week. She was strutting around like a Tina video from 1985. I mean the girl can sing, but it was too much of a copy cat form the look, the strut and the arrangement.
Who’s going home? Hmmm…..Scott or Anoop. I hate to say it but Lil will be there for a while because she’s the only black female in the group. There is a segment that will vote for her regardless. Probably the same phenomenon goes for Anoop which would be the only reason he doesn’t go home tonight.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Honestly, I missed the show and instead went to the ballpark to watch the Astros beat the Cubs. That was good.
But I did catch a few performances in recap on the drive into work. This is actually not a bad way to experience the show, since I can listen to the music and not see the aweful dancing or strange faces the contestants make. I can listen to Anoop and Scott and judge them as singers. The biggest negative is it is an AM station, so….
Scott sounded good. I mean its the first time I liked his performance since his initial tryout. I do agree with all the criticism though about the guitar. Dude, that song has lots of piano in it, you play the piano well, stick with the piano. You’re running on fumes anyway, stick with what you do best.
Kris sounded like Karoake. Good, but not excellent.
Anoop? True Colors? I liked Cyndi in the day, not sure why. I understand how artistic that song is, but I never really liked it. I didn’t expect Anoop to be able to do anything with it, and I don’t think he did.
The radio host playing the AI recap panned Danny’s performance (he also panned Scott’s). I totally disagree. I liked it. It was a good performance. I agree with SarahK, because its healthy and she’s right, Ben E King’s version is the best. Still, I think Danny sang the other version well.
Allison’s and Lil’s performance were memorable enough to be safe. Lil certainly could have picked a better song, and she needs to branch out… really needs to branch out. Allison did a good job picking a song that fit her. I like them both better than a couple of the guys, so I hope and expect to see both next week.
Before I get to Adam, and walk out a dangerous limb, I’ll say that I cannot remember Matt’s performance. As SarahK says, it really is forgetable. He wasn’t outstanding before. Good, but not outstanding. So I suspect he’s sent home tonight.
I didn’t like Adam’s pick tonight. It simply isn’t music I normally listen too. But listening to the performance and thinking about Adam; I started comparing him to Freddie Mercury. Freddie was an incredibly talented singer and song writer, who was also far from ordinary. So I think there’s a reasonable comparison in terms of persona, and not just teh ghey angle either. And I do think Adam may have the musical talent of Freddie Mercury. But I do hope he doesn’t try and perform Bohemian Rhapsody. That’s a good Queen group song. There’s many more songs to choose from.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Also loved the Kutner comment. Alas, no House snark. And no Dollhouse snark.
Please, no Fringe snark. That show seems to want to see how many different ways it can jump the shark in its first season.
April 8th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Leland, the sharks are genetically engineered to be jumpable from any angle. Then they release an airborne toxin that kills the jumper by turning his lungs into a creamy nougat. It’s something DARPA was looking into in 1967. To save oneself from the sharks it is necessary to hum “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” in B-flat-major; the harmonic frequencies make the toxin harmless.
Are they doing Queen next week? Adam should do Under Pressure. He’d crush that song. Everyone else should just skip the week, because it’s not likely to end well.
If I had to do a birth year song, we’d be crawling through the dregs of 1972… that was rather a bleh year, especially since Idol is a poor format to try to sing all 17+ minutes of Yes’ “Close to the Edge.” But I suppose one could rock out to the Who’s “Join Together” for two minutes.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I’m so irritated with KAHRA for talking so much! I DVRed the show to go 5 minutes past and it STILL cut off Adam. Garrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like Adam a lot. And I LOVE that song he sang. I listened to that type of music when I was growing up and that was one of my favorite songs. I got to see most of the performance but JUST when it was getting really good…..blip! End! KAHRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ONLY reason I knew Simon had given him a standing “O” was because the local news that was on right after it, showed about 5 seconds of Adam singing, a 5 seconds I didn’t get to hear and then showed Simon saying, “I’m giving you a standing O.”
Which, NEVER happens so now I’m even MORE disgusted with KAHRA and her incessant blabbering.
Sigh. Now I have to find it on the interwebz.
grumble grumble grumble
Oh, also, I think you’re way too hard on Allison. I love that girl’s voice. Absolutely love it. I would like her and Adam to be in the top two. Which of them to win? I think Adam beats her because he is not only a really good singer but he’s very creative in his arrangements. The only one I didn’t like was that hippy dippy one. But that’s because I don’t like hippy dippy songs no matter who sings them.
April 9th, 2009 at 9:13 am
PammyV, I hate the groupies thing too!
/I agree with SarahK, because its healthy and she’s right/
Hahahahaha. Yes, Leland! It’s healthy for you to agree with me!
Actually, that totally wasn’t even Gilley’s version. He made it his own, and I didn’t care for the arrangement at all.
I wish I had time to snark House and Dollhouse, especially Dollhouse. And LOST. Sigh. Someday I’ll be retired.
/To save oneself from the sharks it is necessary to hum “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” in B-flat-major; the harmonic frequencies make the toxin harmless./
I don’t know how you come up with the things you say, nf. You kill me.
If I had to do a birth year song, I’d be from 1976. Maybe I could sing “My Ding-A-Ling.”
April 13th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
SarahK, I’ll take whatever free ice cream you have time to provide.
And the more I thought about it, would you snark House or Dollhouse? Actually, snark might be something entirely more appropriate for a show like Fringe, since there is so much there to pick apart.
I get my House critiques from Scott at PoliteDissent, or my wife, the RN.
Finally, I did watch Dollhouse per your request. Based on advertising, it simply wasn’t a show I would normally have viewed (neither is Fringe, it benefitted totally from falling after House for its start). Now that I’m a few episodes in, I like the show. Not sure where it is going, but enjoyable so far.