The Worst Performances of American Idol Season 8

When they were bad, the American Idol Season 8 performances did not go for halfway measures. They were terrible. And just like there were great, better, and best performances ("Ain't No Sunshine" by Kris Allen; "Poppa Was a Rolling Stone" by Allison Iraheta; "Mad World" by Adam Lambert; "You Are So Beautiful" by Danny Gokey; "Georgia On My Mind" by Matt Giraud), there were not so great, worse, and worst performances as well. Some of the performances were so bad that they bordered on the painful. Others made one wonder how the finalist got to be a finalist in the first place...

(For obvious reasons, not the least of which is space limitations, the group numbers were not included in this list...)

The Worst Performances On American Idol Season 8

"Dream On" -- Danny Gokey. Not the worst performance on American Idol Season 8 (yet probably the most memorable), but Danny Gokey's "Scream On" version of the classic Aerosmith song should have got him voted off during "Rock Week." Even he knew how bad it was, joking on the results show about his aunt muting his performance and how he just kept laughing at his own performance. It is true that laughter is a psychological salve for pain -- and that screeching Danny Gokey did at the end of "Dream On" was the very definition of aural abuse.

"Rockin' Robin" -- Megan Joy Corkrey. This tune was performed during "Michael Jackson Week" and no doubt had many people around the country asking themselves, "How the hell did she make the Top 36?" Her stiff little twisty small girl movements reminded everyone that, before she auditioned for American Idol, Megan Joy had no stage experience. Not only was the singing wooden, she sounded -- and looked -- like every beauty queen that has sang for their part in the talent section of a pageant in the last 50 years. "Rockin' Robin" was a dull song made into a painful weapon against the aural senses. In what should have been Megan Joy's final performance, she somehow survived to assault the ears of millions for a few more weeks.

"You Can't Hurry Love" -- Scott MacIntyre. In a week of bad (worst) performances, "Motown Week" really showed Scott MacIntyre's vocal limitations. Nice guy; an amazing pianist. A little too flat on an upbeat song, making his mistakes all the more noticeable.

"Ain't Too Proud To Beg" -- Michael Sarver. You can tell that Michael Sarver is going to make one great country or contemporary Christian singer, but when it came to Motown, he was out of his element. The American Idol audience thought so as well, sending him home after "Motown Week."

"Heatwave" -- Lil Rounds. Just a bit on the shouty side, Lil Rounds version of the classic Martha and the Vandellas song was just not good. What made this performance one of the worst was that Lil Rounds should have nailed the category. Instead, she chose a song ill-suited for her voice and over-sang it.

"For Once In My Life" -- Megan Joy Corkrey. Megan Joy's entry for "Motown Week" was flat-out atrocious. Butchering a Stevie Wonder song is one thing, taking an industrial sized war-axe to it is another. What Megan Joy didn't slice up with her atonal renderings, she bludgeoned with her flat note renderings.

"Turn Your Lights Down Low" -- Megan Joy Corkrey. Close to the worst performance on American Idol this season. This Bob Marley (later covered by Lauryn Hill) tune was nearly unrecognizable when Megan Joy opened her mouth. It's not that the girl can't sing. She can follow the rhythm of a song. It's just that her vocal stylings have no quality. For those not into pitch, key, tone, etc., it is colloquially known as "not being able to sing." "Turn Your Lights Down Low" was Megan Joy's final song on American Idol.

"The Rose" -- Lil Rounds. Oh. Where is Bette Midler when you need her? Lil Rounds just couldn't handle this song at all. Rounds has a big, powerful voice which lacks subtlety. "The Rose" demands subtlety. Hollerin' back like you're singing in Sunday choir just don't cut it.

"I'm Every Woman" -- Lil Rounds. Just yelling. That's all it seemed to be: Lil Rounds going back and forth on stage, yelling. To quote this writer, "At any second, I expected Oprah Winfrey to come running out on stage screaming for Lil Rounds to 'Stop, oh, please stop the butchery!'" This was Lil Rounds farewell tune.

"The Search Is Over" -- Scott MacIntyre. The master pianist totally destroyed this great Survivor song. Scott MacIntyre has problems with his vocals at times. He told the judges he wanted to show his "punk side." Unfortunately, it was the last side he showed them.

Just The Worst And Nothing But The Worst

But which performance was the worst? By far, "Rockin' Robin" (which was also Lamest Song Choice of the Year) as performed by Megan Joy Corkrey, although her rendition of Bob Marley's "Turn Your Lights Down Low" was nearly as horrendous. Megan Joy was also -- by an enormous amount -- the worst performer, all marionette wooden and stiff (in her movements and in her singing) to the point one expected a big wooden cross with strings attached to come crashing down on the stage beside her at any second. But which performance will everyone remember from American Idol Season 8? Danny Gokey's now famous "Scream On" "Dream On."

But there should an honorable mention. Although performed admirably well by both finalists, Kara DioGuardi ultra-lame "No Boundaries" should be given special consideration for its ridiculous lyrics and its atrocious progression. It is truly a shame that the winner of American Idol had to sing it.

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Source:

"American Idol," Fox Television