American Idol: Adam Lambert's 'If I Can't Have You' Slightly Theatrical

While the judges gushed about Adam Lambert's latest performance of Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You", I found myself feeling less than enthusiastic. Perhaps, his stellar performance of Tears for Fears, "Mad World" has spoiled me but I found the nights performance a little theatrical. Looking dashing and making like a balladeer, Adam slowed down the song and gave it an emotionalism that seemed just a smidge over the top. Paula, in pure Abdul style waxed cryptically about Adam's depth of emotion, but for my money Kris Allen delivered the most innovative performance. The judges go on ad nauseum about giving contemporary performances, but Adam's performance felt more like number from a Broadway show. To be sure, Adam Lambert's performance was original and technically his voice was on point but it lacked the pizazz I've come to expect from him.

Kris Allen Has His Eye on the Prize

With his previous performance of Bill Wither's 30 year old classic, "Ain't No Sunshine" Kris Allen proved he has the cajones to take a risk. Making like David Cook, Kris proved he's not afraid to roll the dice. Far from coming up snakes, he delivered a winner. Kris Allen performed Donna Summer's female anthem, "She Works Hard for the Money" and flexed his innovative muscles yet again. Paula Abdul hit the nail on the head when she said Kris's performance, had a classic Santana feel. It was reminiscent of the collaboration, Santana released with Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, a few years ago. Kris Allen gave the song new life. In a perfect world this song would make it to Kris's debut album along with "Ain't No Sunshine."

Allison Iraheta is a Rock Goddess

At 16, Allison Iraheta already has a style and a voice that promises to make her a success. Iraheta favored us with another Donna Summer number. Singing Donna Summer's homage to street walkers, "Hot Stuff", Allison Iraheta delivered a great performance that benefited mightily from her signature vocals. Though the arrangement got lackluster reviews from the judges, Allison Iraheta's voice shone like the sun. Raspy and confident, despite her tender years, she worked the stage like a seasoned professional. It's interesting to note that Donna Summer's rock version of "Hot Stuff" won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance.

Matt Giraud's Canny Song Choice

Perhaps Matt Giraud's song choice was not a tongue-in-cheek nod towards getting the judges save last week. Matt performed "Staying Alive" from the 80's movie by the same name. "Staying Alive" the movie was a sequel to the '80s mega hit "Saturday Night Fever" which starred John Travolta. The sequel was not the critical hit that "Saturday Night Fever" had been.

Matt Giraud delivered a solid performance that demonstrated the range of his voice. The judges weren't bowled over about the song choice and felt that Matt needed more originality. In keeping with his blue-eyed soul vibe, Matt gave the song a definite dose of R&B. It's not certain if Matt's performance proved worthy the judge's save and he could be in danger this week since it will be a double elimination. While the elimination is sad, the knowledge that whoever is cut still has a 50 city tour to look forward to should soften the blow a bit. Besides, one has only to look at Chris Daughtry's success. As the fourth most successful alumnus of American Idol, Daughtry proves, finishing first doesn't always translate into finishing best.

Danny Gokey Gets Karaoke

Lil Rounds has been lambasted week after week for performances that have been deemed karaoke, imitation and throw back but Danny Gokey delivered a version of Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" that was just as karaoke as anything Lil has done. The judges seemed quite pleased with Danny Gokey's performance and gave him high marks for his vocals. While he was pitch perfect, there still wasn't anything that stood out. Danny Gokey's Disco performance didn't fill me with enthusiasm, but he has a store of goodwill from past great performances which should take him through this round.

Anoop Gets His Sexy on With Some Stubble and a Salmon Sweater

Paula Abdul deemed Anoop Desai's sweater as pink but according to my television it was really more of a salmon. Anoop performed tonight with what appeared to be two days growth of stubble and to tell you the truth it was kinda hot. The combination of the salmon sweater and the manly beard shed a whole new light on Anoop. He was sexy and confident, with a bit of a swagger. It was quite nice to see since Anoop has had his share of ups and downs throughout the competition; having been in the bottom three more than any other contestant. Tonight went pretty well for Anoop Desai until the pitchy end of his rendition of "Dim All the Lights"; yet another Donna Summer ditty. Anoop did an admirable job, however, the performance could have been considerably better if he had just stayed in ballad mode. He went up-tempo and it took away some from the overall performance. Though his rendition was pretty good, Anoop may still find himself in the bottom three again. Odds on favorites for the bottom three slots are Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai. Of course upsets have happened before and with the judges save no longer in play, whoever gets the boot is going to have to pack it on in and head home until it's time to gear up for the tour.

Lil Rounds is Every Woman but Lil Rounds

Lil Rounds is a great singer and a dynamite performer and if I could fill out a jumpsuit like she does, that's all I'd ever wear. She's a belter and she should be the one to beat in the competition. Save for one thing. Lil Rounds refuses to get out of her comfort zone. Tonight she favored the audience with her rendition of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman". I was a great cover of "I'm Every Woman". However, it would appear that Lil has not mastered making the song her own and it's a shame because she is a massive talent. Perhaps it is a question of trusting herself enough to know how to develop the material to show off her range. She sings a great song but it comes off sounding like an imitation of the original. I still don't have a clue about who Lil is. If she makes it through to next week which is a long shot, hopefully she'll finally pull it together.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Daughtry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staying_Alive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Stuff_(Donna_Summer_song)