Post by Walker, Texas Ranger on May 5, 2009 22:51:22 GMT -5
Let's just get this out of the way right up front. Adam Lambert may be the single most talented vocalist in American Idol history.
I could end my weekly review right now and feel confident that I have said all the needs to be said (written all that needs to read?), but something tells me that a 23 word review is not exactly what is expected. So allow me to be a bit more verbose with my admiration of being able to watch the birth of what could become a true rock god. No, I am not getting carried away in the emotion of the moment, nor am I suddenly channeling Kara DioGuardi, I honestly feel that Adam is just that good.
He has the stage presence, the Elvis-like sneer, the swagger and the vocal chops to rival many of the rock greats. Combine that with eal humility and you have all the elements that could easily make Adam the biggest star to ever come out of Idol. And I am still not convinced he is even going to win the competition.
Bear with me on this, and understand that I am not alone in my thinking. None other than Simon Cowell, in an interview with TV Guide, said the same thing. He feels that Danny Gokey will end up winning because he is "safer" and appeals to a wider audience than Adam, who has been riding that edge of Idol acceptability all season long. And once the initial high of watching Adam swagger with way through Led Zeppelin's immortal "Whole Lotta Love", I came a bit back down to earth by the simple expedient of listening to an audio-only replay of his performance. Yes, it was good, very good indeed, but it wasn't at the level of true rock stardom. The potential is there, without any doubt, but it will all come down to what he does after Idol to see if he can achieve his potential.
Did I grade it an A? Nope. I graded it an A+, making Adam the only contestant this season I have given four A+'s to (for "Tracks Of My Tears", "Play That Funky Music", and "Feeling Good" before tonight) if my notes are to deciphered. And in hindsight, I probably should have given him an A+ for "Mad World", but if I recall I was in a bit of a grouchy mood that night. Even so, I worry that he might turn around and make an album of songs in the vein of his biggest "whut?" moment of the season, his bizarre Indian take of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire". Time will tell.
As for the show itself Tuesday night, well... I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping it was going to be like last week, where you could barely decide who other than Adam should be home. Instead, it ended up more of, "Can we just pour confetti on Adam's head right now and be done with it?" The omen of a falling apart stage was not missed, along with the reveal of a new Idol! Duets! idea combined with what may have been the least interested mentor in years in the guise of guitarist Slash should have been ample warning that things were not right in Idolville.
It was a neat concept to put the final four on a club stage with a real rock band and have them rehearse loud and proud, but I think it backfired for everyone except Adam. Rock night didn't mean it had to be scream and growl night, which went a long way to explain why the Other Three (as I am now calling them) made such poor song choices. In a way, it was a brilliant test of their ability to adapt to the music world, and in their cases, it showed them all as not quite ready for the big show. It also didn't help that Adam started off the night, as Simon noted in his usual blunt manner, but making certain that no one who came after would sound good in comparison not matter how well they did.
Allison Iraheta, who I've come to really like for a number of reasons, made a nice attempt at Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby". I appreciated that she didn't pick the tired old standby of "Piece Of My Heart", which has been done several times over in past seasons, but wish she had avoided Janis altogether. She has the lower register and power that Janis had, but as my mother pointed out after the show, she didn't have Janis' distinctive whiskey-soaked growl. I was introduced to Joplin by my mother (yes, I was raised by an unapologetic rocker who loves Idol as much as I do), so I knew I had to get her take on Allison's performance. In the end, I think what may save Allison is that she finally stood up to Simon, and did so in a way that wasn't annoying. Her confidence was grown week by week, though from the judges’ comments, I wondered if there is some top-secret memo to the judges to make sure the final is Adam vs Danny.
After that, the show started to veer even more off the tracks. The Kris/Danny diet of Styx's "Renegade" wasn't very good, with the exception of their harmonies. I don't think it helped either one of them, least of all Kris Allen. Of course, Kris's solo performance of the Beatle's "Come Together" made his chances even worse. The song has been covered in a number of different ways over the years, from Aerosmith’s down and dirty version to a recent version by Joe Cocker from the "Across The Universe" soundtrack (which I recommend highly).
About the only thing that Kris did with the song that really got my attention was how he changed up the middle some, but overall it just wasn't very good. He got way too caught up in the "rock out with a loud guitar" mentality of the week and made a bad song choice. I would have loved to see him do a blues guitar driven version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" or a funky version of "I Am The Walrus", just to cite two examples.
But as much as Kris may have been caught up in the "rock out with a loud guitar" mentality, it was nothing compared to what overcame Danny Gokey. Rock stars do not wear vests unless it is all they are wearing, and even then they never button them up. Nor do they take on songs that are so far beyond their ability as it would be for me to try out of "So You Think You Can Dance?" I make people with two left feet seem graceful, to explain the analogy.
Put simply, Danny's tortuous rendition of Aerosmith's classic "Dream On" was just bad. I can't remember ever giving a D grade to a final four contestant before, but that's the best I could muster up for Danny. And if I never have to hear his final dying animal screech again, I'll live a long a and happy life. Which made my conspiracy memo theory seem ever more believable when the judges fawned all over him, telling how much they admired his effort. Effort? Hello? Are we involved with the same show, where anyone who had sung that way Danny did wouldn't even have made it through the first audition? But the memo states clearly, I am certain, that it must be Adam vs. Danny for the finale, so no one is allowed to say what should have said, "Danny, that was an atrocious performance, a terrible song choice, and you should pack your bags tonight."
Nope, instead we'll most likely be seeing Kris heading home Wednesday night. Danny will get through based on his fan base with some help from the judges, Adam is a no-brainer, and his final duet performance with Allison most likely will keep her around for another week, where she just might surprise everyone by toppling the Osmond-like spectacled one and giving us a real rocker vs. rocker finale. I think that would be a lot more entertaining, especially since they both seem to get along with each other so well.
Oh, and on final note. This is a private transmission to Kara DioGuardi: When you told Danny that instead of "Dream On", he should have gone with some of Aerosmith's "earlier stuff", exactly what earlier stuff where you thinking of? "Dream On" was from their debut album released in 1973. A quibble could be made that it actually didn't crack the charts until 1976, a year after "Sweet Emotion" from their third album had become their first pop hit, but I really don't think you were intending Danny to sing:
You talk about things that nobody cares
Wearing other things that nobody wears
You're callin' my name but I gotta make clear
I can't say baby where I'll be in a year
Though, when you think about it that may have been exactly what Danny should have sung to Kara.
Final Grades: Adam - A+, Allison - B, Kris - C, Danny - D. Going home: Kris.
I could end my weekly review right now and feel confident that I have said all the needs to be said (written all that needs to read?), but something tells me that a 23 word review is not exactly what is expected. So allow me to be a bit more verbose with my admiration of being able to watch the birth of what could become a true rock god. No, I am not getting carried away in the emotion of the moment, nor am I suddenly channeling Kara DioGuardi, I honestly feel that Adam is just that good.
He has the stage presence, the Elvis-like sneer, the swagger and the vocal chops to rival many of the rock greats. Combine that with eal humility and you have all the elements that could easily make Adam the biggest star to ever come out of Idol. And I am still not convinced he is even going to win the competition.
Bear with me on this, and understand that I am not alone in my thinking. None other than Simon Cowell, in an interview with TV Guide, said the same thing. He feels that Danny Gokey will end up winning because he is "safer" and appeals to a wider audience than Adam, who has been riding that edge of Idol acceptability all season long. And once the initial high of watching Adam swagger with way through Led Zeppelin's immortal "Whole Lotta Love", I came a bit back down to earth by the simple expedient of listening to an audio-only replay of his performance. Yes, it was good, very good indeed, but it wasn't at the level of true rock stardom. The potential is there, without any doubt, but it will all come down to what he does after Idol to see if he can achieve his potential.
Did I grade it an A? Nope. I graded it an A+, making Adam the only contestant this season I have given four A+'s to (for "Tracks Of My Tears", "Play That Funky Music", and "Feeling Good" before tonight) if my notes are to deciphered. And in hindsight, I probably should have given him an A+ for "Mad World", but if I recall I was in a bit of a grouchy mood that night. Even so, I worry that he might turn around and make an album of songs in the vein of his biggest "whut?" moment of the season, his bizarre Indian take of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire". Time will tell.
As for the show itself Tuesday night, well... I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping it was going to be like last week, where you could barely decide who other than Adam should be home. Instead, it ended up more of, "Can we just pour confetti on Adam's head right now and be done with it?" The omen of a falling apart stage was not missed, along with the reveal of a new Idol! Duets! idea combined with what may have been the least interested mentor in years in the guise of guitarist Slash should have been ample warning that things were not right in Idolville.
It was a neat concept to put the final four on a club stage with a real rock band and have them rehearse loud and proud, but I think it backfired for everyone except Adam. Rock night didn't mean it had to be scream and growl night, which went a long way to explain why the Other Three (as I am now calling them) made such poor song choices. In a way, it was a brilliant test of their ability to adapt to the music world, and in their cases, it showed them all as not quite ready for the big show. It also didn't help that Adam started off the night, as Simon noted in his usual blunt manner, but making certain that no one who came after would sound good in comparison not matter how well they did.
Allison Iraheta, who I've come to really like for a number of reasons, made a nice attempt at Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby". I appreciated that she didn't pick the tired old standby of "Piece Of My Heart", which has been done several times over in past seasons, but wish she had avoided Janis altogether. She has the lower register and power that Janis had, but as my mother pointed out after the show, she didn't have Janis' distinctive whiskey-soaked growl. I was introduced to Joplin by my mother (yes, I was raised by an unapologetic rocker who loves Idol as much as I do), so I knew I had to get her take on Allison's performance. In the end, I think what may save Allison is that she finally stood up to Simon, and did so in a way that wasn't annoying. Her confidence was grown week by week, though from the judges’ comments, I wondered if there is some top-secret memo to the judges to make sure the final is Adam vs Danny.
After that, the show started to veer even more off the tracks. The Kris/Danny diet of Styx's "Renegade" wasn't very good, with the exception of their harmonies. I don't think it helped either one of them, least of all Kris Allen. Of course, Kris's solo performance of the Beatle's "Come Together" made his chances even worse. The song has been covered in a number of different ways over the years, from Aerosmith’s down and dirty version to a recent version by Joe Cocker from the "Across The Universe" soundtrack (which I recommend highly).
About the only thing that Kris did with the song that really got my attention was how he changed up the middle some, but overall it just wasn't very good. He got way too caught up in the "rock out with a loud guitar" mentality of the week and made a bad song choice. I would have loved to see him do a blues guitar driven version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" or a funky version of "I Am The Walrus", just to cite two examples.
But as much as Kris may have been caught up in the "rock out with a loud guitar" mentality, it was nothing compared to what overcame Danny Gokey. Rock stars do not wear vests unless it is all they are wearing, and even then they never button them up. Nor do they take on songs that are so far beyond their ability as it would be for me to try out of "So You Think You Can Dance?" I make people with two left feet seem graceful, to explain the analogy.
Put simply, Danny's tortuous rendition of Aerosmith's classic "Dream On" was just bad. I can't remember ever giving a D grade to a final four contestant before, but that's the best I could muster up for Danny. And if I never have to hear his final dying animal screech again, I'll live a long a and happy life. Which made my conspiracy memo theory seem ever more believable when the judges fawned all over him, telling how much they admired his effort. Effort? Hello? Are we involved with the same show, where anyone who had sung that way Danny did wouldn't even have made it through the first audition? But the memo states clearly, I am certain, that it must be Adam vs. Danny for the finale, so no one is allowed to say what should have said, "Danny, that was an atrocious performance, a terrible song choice, and you should pack your bags tonight."
Nope, instead we'll most likely be seeing Kris heading home Wednesday night. Danny will get through based on his fan base with some help from the judges, Adam is a no-brainer, and his final duet performance with Allison most likely will keep her around for another week, where she just might surprise everyone by toppling the Osmond-like spectacled one and giving us a real rocker vs. rocker finale. I think that would be a lot more entertaining, especially since they both seem to get along with each other so well.
Oh, and on final note. This is a private transmission to Kara DioGuardi: When you told Danny that instead of "Dream On", he should have gone with some of Aerosmith's "earlier stuff", exactly what earlier stuff where you thinking of? "Dream On" was from their debut album released in 1973. A quibble could be made that it actually didn't crack the charts until 1976, a year after "Sweet Emotion" from their third album had become their first pop hit, but I really don't think you were intending Danny to sing:
You talk about things that nobody cares
Wearing other things that nobody wears
You're callin' my name but I gotta make clear
I can't say baby where I'll be in a year
Though, when you think about it that may have been exactly what Danny should have sung to Kara.
Final Grades: Adam - A+, Allison - B, Kris - C, Danny - D. Going home: Kris.
