American Idol: Disco Week Preview and Predictions

With American Idol still at 7 contestants thanks to Matt Giraud remaining in the competition after the judges' save, it's time for a make it or break it theme week. That's right, folks, it's disco week for the idols. Why is this going to be a make it or break it week? Because disco isn't an easy genre for some people to jump into. Will wee see our favorites falter or flourish? It's hard to tell, but you can be sure that it's all going to come down to the song choice, especially with two people leaving the competition this week.

There are a lot of great songs that can be chosen for this week, but there are also a lot of horrible songs as well. If you were picking songs for the idol contestants, what would you choose? I know what I'd choose for some of them. For Adam Lambert, I'd choose something from the Bee Gee's that will accentuate his falsetto. Perhaps "Staying Alive" would be a good choice, or even "Grease" would work. Ideally, Lambert will pick something that uses his upper register and is showy, something that shows off what a performer he is, even though it's a foregone conclusion that at least one judge will hate him, no matter what he does.

The rest of the competitors will have a harder time finding songs that suit them in this genre, but perhaps we can get Lil Rounds singing Gloria Gaynor's "I will survive" or possibly "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, something that is more in tune with the way she's been singing over the last few weeks. This should be her time to shine, but you can never tell with Lil. Ideally, Danny Gokey will pick something up-tempo, but refrain from dancing. His dancing throws his vocals out of whack, but he needs to belt like we all know he can. If I were picking songs for Danny, I'd pick "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" from Baccara, or possibly the Bee Gees song, "Tragedy" even.

As for Allison Iraheta, ABBA's "SOS" is something that would strike a chord with everyone, especially with the popularity of the movie "Mamma Mia!" Her voice would be well suited to most any ABBA hit, but I think "SOS" would take her outside of the box that she's in, it'd be fun and young and she'd put a good spin on it. Another great song choice for Allison would be Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights." She'll be out of her comfort zone this week, but she can knock it out of the park with the right song. The same goes for Matt Giraud. He will be out of his comfort zone, but with a song like "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" from Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Matt could hit the right notes with the judges and fans and make it to the Top 5.

Kris Allen and Anoop Desai will also struggle this week if they don't choose the right songs, but they can make the most of the week if they try. If Kris chooses something like "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" from McFadden and Whitehead and really gives it his all, he could do well. It's even been suggested that he would do well with the Bee Gees "More Than A Woman" but I'm not sure I can picture him doing that one any justice. As for Anoop, it's hard to peg what would work best for him. Perhaps, Carl Carlton's "Everlasting Love" will be the song that can push Anoop into the top 5. I'm just not sure there are any songs that are considered disco that would suit him, especially since they are mostly upbeat, up-tempo songs and he needs to avoid that after the fiasco of singing "Caught Up".

So what do you think, Idol fans? Who will falter this week and go home? My predictions: Anoop, Allison and Matt will struggle the most, with Anoop and Matt going home. Adam should flourish greatly this week and be safely safe without fear of the bottom three at all. For the rest, it'll all come down to the song choices and the performances. Tune in Tuesday night and see what comes.