American Idol - Slash and Burn

American Idol - Top 4 - Performance Night - Theme: Rock Week, Guest Mentor: Slash

Because Slash is so relevant to today's music.

In a first, the final four will also have to perform a duet. This is beginning to look more and more like last years Canadian Idol. From the group performances on judging night, as well as a male dominated finals (that begin with a lopsided male heavy Top 12 roster).

So, it's Rock Week. And by Rock, they really mean classic rock. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I liked the idea of the duet, but if they do, it should be like on So You Think You Can Dance where they must pair with each person so that it's all equal. Not the way they stacked the deck like they did here.

Meanwhile, the judges and producers are doing everything they can to make sure Adam wins, especially by burning any hope that Kris has. There's going to be a nice play in hell for the judges.

(Well, if today was any indication, Kris need not worry over not winning this shindig anyways, cause who knows? He could get nominated for a Tony Award!)


Adam Lambert
26 years old
Home: Los Angeles, CA
Audition: San Francisco, CA
Song: "Whole Lotta Love" (by Led Zeppelin)

Grade: B-

I can see the cougars are gonna LOVE this. It was perfect for Adam's usual schtick, I just didn't really care for it. And for his RAWK performance, I thought it was kinda toned down and not as giggly entertaining as he usually is (which is his biggest selling point). Sure, he can scream those high notes, but I don't want to listen to that on the radio. Kara notes that he should be making albums that are Classic Rock from the 70's and Glam Rock from the 80's. Yay! Stuff I kinda hate! I picture guys with big belly's and white beards (even though they're in their 20's) and cougar ladies in pleather. The judges couldn't fawn over the performance more. I know he's going to win, but I'm done.



Allison Iraheta
16 years old
Home: Los Angeles, CA
Audition: San Francisco, CA
Song: "Cry Baby" (by Janis Joplin)

Grade: B+

For a rock song, it was a nicely controlled vocal performance but for entertainment value, she probably could have shook things up a bit and gone crazier, so I can see why the judges didn't totally love her. Still, I would rather listen to Allison's performance over Adam's.



Kris Allen and Danny Gokey
Song: "Renegade" (by Tommy Shaw, made famous by Styx)

Grade: B+ (B for Kris, A- for Danny)

I actually kinda dug the first duet on the show. Especially considering it's with Kris, the man that I want to f#$k, and Danny, the man that I want to "f#%k off". Kris did sound strained in his solos but rock was always going to be his biggest hurdle, while Danny is in the school with Adam, where the louder the yell, the better it sounds, which is exactly what Classic Rock is all about (and why I really don't care for it). So yah, Danny was better, in something I don't really care for, but together, their voices did balance quite nicely and I actually enjoyed that.



Kris Allen
23 years old
Home: Conway, AR
Audition: Louisville, KY
Song: "Come Together" (by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, made famous by The Beatles)

Grade: B+

How fair is it that Kris has to sing back to back? It's not even a conspiracy anymore when it's so blatant.

As usual, Kris does his usual spin on the song, really making it his own without being over-the-top (like Adam) but the judges aren't having any of it that it's become so clear nothing is going to stop Adam from winning.

Kara was so orgasmic over Adam, and poopooed Kris that you know they just had to knock down the one guy who could have topped Adam (maybe I should rephrase that...).

And as I've said for weeks now, I'm going to say it again, so that when it happens, I have these posts as proof that I said it "way back when", but Adam's going to win for being the most outrageous performer on the Idol stage, but Kris is going to eventually win the albums war when he comes out with better overall albums and songs that are actually listenable.



Danny Gokey
28 years old
Home: Milwaukee, WI
Audition: Kansas City, MO
Song: "Dream On" (by Steve Tyler, made famous by Aerosmith)

Grade: C+

I actually was worried he was going to kill it, but he did, and not in a good way. He started off shaky, then nailed it with the first "Sing it with me..." with his yelling-as-singing but then it became a hot mess when he got to the "Dream On" part and then really murdered it like a serial killer at the end. At one point I almost gave this a B or B+ but then that ending was exactly what I was looking for with Danny's performance. A bad one. I need to keep my precious Allison and Kris safe! Thanks for the horrific performance Danny! It was decent at one point, but then descended into despicableness!



Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert
Song: "Slow Ride" (by Dave Peverett, made famous by Foghat)

Grade: B (A for Allison, C for Adam)

Considering they put the two rockers together, you would think they would have clobbered Kris and Danny's duet. But all it did was made me love Allison even more, and hate Adam even more. Pairing them up showed how much vocal control Allison has, while Adam just screams everything. Sure, that's controlled too, but it's hurting my ears.



The Final Round Up:

Best of the Night: Allison Iraheta
Worst of the Night: Danny Gokey's solo, Adam Lambert's duet

Bottom Three Predictions: Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen

Going Home: Kris Allen - Man, I hope I'm wrong here.
Should Be Going home: Danny Gokey (although really, Adam, since I'm actually liking Gokey more than Adam these days but apparently there's a lot of people that love the white glam trashiness of Adam and would take out their rifles if he lost).

AMENDMENT May 6th 09 Okay, they kept replaying Danny's last note on the radio this morning and man it was bad. No, Gokey definitely needs to go. While I'm tired of Adam's schtick, they just need to put the Go in Gokey. (Seriously, how good is Idolatry these days?)

For more on American Idol:
Click here for the most recent posts.
Season 8:
Top 2 Performance
Top 3 Performance, Top 3 Results
Top 4 Performance, Top 4 Results
Top 5 Performance, Top 5 Results
Top 6 + Matt (Top 7 Redux) Performance, Top 7 Redux Results
Top 7 Performance, Top 7 Results
Top 8 Performance, Top 8 Results
Top 9 Performance
Top 10 Performance
Top 12 Performance, Top 12 Results
Top 13 Performance, Top 13 Results
Top 36:
Group 1, Group 2, Group 3
Wild Card, Wild Card Results
Pre-Top 36:
Who Are You Going To Vote For?
Handicapping the Alleged American Idols
Thanks to Rickey for the videos!
Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com