American Idol

[eaglesvet]

There's actually video of Kris doing Somewhere Over the Rainbow on YouTube. I hope he doesn't do it, though, as another contestant did the exact same thing last year.

OK, now I'm pretty sure last year was the ever-mellow Jason Castro who did it. Katharine McPhee did a more traditional rendition the year before.

[Prettymaid]

Lil needs to step away from the power ballads this week and get back to her audition style. Here it is for those of you who missed it or have forgotten. Her audition starts around 3:57.

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...s-audition.flv

I'm going way-y-y-y back with these choices!

Allison - The Rose (from The Rose)
Danny - Everything I Do (from Robin Hood)

[eaglesvet]

How about The Big Chill, one of the big soundtrack movies from the early 80's? I just looked up a track list: You Can't Always Get What You Want, Good Lovin', In the Midnite Hour, When a Man Loves a Woman, Wouldn't it Be Nice, Quick Silver Girl, The Weight (don't know these last two), Bad Moon Rising, Gimme Some Lovin', Tell Him, Joy to the World, Ain't too Proud to Beg, I Second that Emotion, Tracks of My Tears, Heard it Through the Grapevine, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, My Girl, Whiter Shade of Pale.

Granted, at least one of these was done during Motown week...but there are an awfully lot of good songs on the list!

I also heard It's in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song) by Cher from Mermaids last night...Allison? Lil? Not sure. It's a fun song, though.

Hope no one tries POYPOM after last week's debacle. Well, on second thought, it might work, depending on who it was and how they approached it.

[sodascouts]

Our guys have done tons of soundtrack songs... it would be interesting if one were picked! But yes, if so, hopefully they would treat it better than Kris treated ASWTDID. :: cringe ::

I read one blog that said Kris just didn't get - or at least didn't express - the cynicism and sarcasm of the song that communicate its condemnation of the oblivious "ugly American." I like Kris, but I agree with that assessment.

I wonder if the songs will have to be original soundtrack songs, or just anything that's ever appeared in a movie? If it's the latter, they might as well not even have a category, as the field would be HUGE. But I don't really consider something like Lyin' Eyes (featured on Rhinestone Cowboy) or Life in the Fast Lane (featured on FM) soundtrack songs!

[Prettymaid]

Just off the top of my head, Lil already did I Will Always Love You, albeit it was during Hollywood week, and Kris has already done To Make You Feel My Love from Hope Floats. Soda's right - if any song ever sung in a movie is allowed, then release the hounds!

[eaglesvet]

Graham came up with Say from The Bucket List--I think Kris could pull this off well. He also thought of Rascall Flatts' version of Life is a Highway from Cars--he thought it would've been great for Michael (?) the oil-rigger dude, if only he were still in the mix!

[sodascouts]

Well, that was disappointing overall! Not one but TWO songs by Bryan Adams? I mean, I like the guy, but come on. And a lot of mess ups on pitch.

Allison - She had some iffy moments, but she saved it at the end. Good job!

Anoop - He's got such a great voice but he just doesn't have the dynamism to be the American Idol, IMHO

Adam - He's not my style, but he always hits those notes dead on, and you gotta respect that. Still... so over the top... I find it hard to watch. I can't help it!

Matt - I love Matt, but choosing this song and begging comparisons to Daughtry.... not smart. Still, he did good except for a couple bad moments.

Danny - Love this song, and he did a great job! One of the best of the night, and I'm not usually a GokeHead.

Kris - Great song but I was surprised he chose it. It's hardly obscure though, Kara! I thought he did fine, but nothing spectacular.

Lil Rounds - The Rose is a lovely song, but this was her worst performance yet, I think.

Bottom Three: Lil Rounds, Anoop, and (sadly) Matt

Who should go home: Lil. No question about it!

PS. Great guesses Prettymaid! Your picks both got sung (just by other people)

[sodascouts]

This is a bit tangential, but it does involve Simon....

My friend sent me a link from the show "Britain's Got Talent" where a Scottish woman, who looks a bit frumpy and mousy, turns out to have an INCREDIBLE voice that brought everyone to their feet and even brought some tears to eyes. Amazing! And the looks on the judges faces... worth seven minutes of your time to watch it!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY[/ame]

[eaglesvet]

Actually, I stumbled upon this myself yesterday. Her voice was pretty stunning, and I read that Simon Cowell enterprises was already negotiating with her on a contract, before she officially won anything. On the same show, they have a 6-yr-old girl named Connie (I think) who stuns Simon and the rest of the crowd again with her "pitch-perfect" rendition of....Somewhere Over the Rainbow." (Told ya, there's got to be one version at least every season, and now also on each side of the Pond, as well!) After watching her video of that song, there were links to her doing other songs that were absolutely amazing for a child of any age! She did Ben at least as well as MJ did. Obviously her career is set in stone as she gets older!

[eaglesvet]

Now, back to AI...I was quite impressed by Soda picking Lil to sing Bette, and PM picking someone to sing The Rose. And I didn't think Lil's version was thaaat bad. I thought she did bring it back to reflect more of her own style, as she defended herself to Simon after his comments. However, I do agree her time is limited.

I think Kris' Falling Slowly was tremendous, and I'm saying that without ever having heard the original. (Yes, it was somewhat obscure to me. That being said, I absolutely remember the 2 Irish singer-actors winning the Academy Award for that song in 2007...it's just that I never had heard the actual song! It makes me really want to see the movie, however!)

As for the 2 Bryan Adams' songs, I thought Anoop's vocals were more true and exciting than Matt's. Matt definitely had some pitch problems, and just seemed a bit weak overall.

Although I've loved Danny since day 1, I want him to break out of his mold and try something different than ballads. His voice is beautiful; I just want to see something totally unique from him. This week was kinda more of the same.

I think that Adam was just way toooo far over the top tonight. I can only take him when he's a bit more restrained in the song style.

I thought Allison did well. What a polished performer she is on stage! Definitely one of the best in that regard.