TELEVISION: American Idol Recap (04.13.10)

It’s another week of IDOL fun and tonight Elvis is king!!!  Presley’s songs are the theme this week.  Also tonight, the IDOLS will be working with “mentor” Adam Lambert.  Don’t get me started on this choice.  I have griped to everyone who would listen.  Ugh!  Only on reality television is the loser of a reality show considered a mentor of THAT reality show.  In any case, I don’t know what the heck Glambert has to do with Elvis, but I guess they were/are both showmen.  And the pressure to perform is on this week. Two contestants will be going home this week thanks to last week’s “Save” by the judges of Michael Lynche.  Time to get rockin…

Crystal Bowersox — “Saved” — Adam tells Crystal to switch it up and choose electric guitar over acoustic this week.  Crystal gets the show kicked off in high gear.  Love her rendition of this Elvis hit.  I can hear her singing this with a big Gospel choir backing her.  It’s brilliant.  Randy says, “That’s the way to come out and give it up.  That was dope.”  Ellen says, “It’s fantastic, Crystal.”  Kara says, “I love the uptempo…you did some really good things tonight.”  Simon says, “You didn’t fall into the karioke trap…orignal, sounded great, congratulations.”

Andrew Garcia — “Hound Dog” — Adam tells Andrew his version is boring and he needs to step his game up.  Will he?  Eh!  I still think this version is too slow and not up tempo enough.  Andrew needs to be blowing it out of the water.  Right now, he’s barely breaking the surface.  We’ll see what the judges say.  Randy says, “That was definitely not good karioke…I didn’t like it.”  Ellen says, “I wish you had put a little more swagger into it…I liked it a whole lot.”  Kara says, “It’s Elvis.  You gotta own it…I wanted to feel more from that performance.”  Simon says, “I thought it was lazy, predictable…it didn’t feel like the star performance.  I think all of your coolness has been sucked out of you right now.”  Ouch!!!

Tim Urban — “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” — Adam likes Tim’s version and tells him to bring his falsetto at the end.  Tim plays acoustic guitar on this number.  I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.  He does hit some nice notes though and the song has a good melody.  He doesn’t follow Adam’s advice with the falsetto though.   Randy says, “I actually liked it.”  Ellen says, “I really enjoyed it.”  Kara says, “Probably my favorite Tim performance ever.”  Simon says, “You have managed to go from zero to hero in two weeks.”

Lee DeWyze — “A Little Less Conversation” — Adam tells Lee to put more in his face, smile and perform.  Hmmm, where have we heard that before?    Lee does a great rendition.  He slows it down a bit and it works.  I definitely see more performance from him tonight.  Randy says, “Dude, you are definitely in the zone.  Very good, dude.”  Ellen says, “You made that so current…you’re engaging with the audience more.”  Kara says, “You really went for it and I loved it…[get more] playful.”  Simon says, “It’s all about nailing the song.  That was on the money, full stop.”

Aaron Kelly — “Blue Suede Shoes” — Adam tells Aaron that he needs to commit to it and then Aaron says the song is probably wrong for him in every way.  THEN WHY DO IT???  Aaron’s performance reminds a lot of a cruise ship show.  The song seems too big for him.  Some of the vocals are really nice, but I don’t buy the whole package.  Randy says, “I think the blues thing fit your voice better.”  Ellen says, “I thought that was a big song to take on.  I didn’t think you got all the way there.”  Kara says, “You’re out of your comfort zone and I liked it…it pushed you…I actually liked it.”  Simon says, “I don’t think it made you younger…it was like somebody at a high school doing a concert.”

Siobhan Magnus — “Suspicious Minds” — Adam says she’s got the pipes, but the song drags, so Siobhan pumps it up.  I really like this Elvis song, but I don’t like Siobhan’s version.  It still feels sleepy until we get to the break and Siobhan turns it into a Gospel diddy.  The back end of the song is definitely better than the top.  Randy says, “When you broke into the halftime part that’s when it came alive for me.”  Ellen says, “I like the second half a lot more b/c I miss that from you.”  Kara says, “I wasn’t crazy about it…I liked the second part though.”  Simon says, “I thought the first part of the song was terrible…it sounded very erratic, very screechy.”

Michael Lynche — “In The Ghetto” — Siobhan helps Michael choose his song, but Adam says he wants to see more performance from Michael.  I think it’s a really beautiful performance from Michael.  It’s soulful and smooth and you can see him feeling this song.  Really nice job, I think.  Randy says, “Those were hot vocals, baby.”  Ellen says, “I’m glad we saved you.”  Kara says, “It’s a beautiful song and you definitely sang it well.”  Simon says, “A million, billion times better than last week and one of my favorite songs.”

Katie Stevens — “Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do?” — Adam tells Katie to show anger in her performance and sell it.  I definitely think Katie sells it tonight.  All cutsiness is gone.  He vocals are pretty solid, but there’s a pitch problem here and there.  Overall, good job.  Randy says, “Nice vocals.   I was entertained.”  Ellen says, “You can sing.  That was great.”  Kara says, “I think you showed us judges.”  Simon says, “For me, it was loud, annoying…they liked it, so it doesn’t matter what I think.” 

Casey James — “Lawdy Miss Claudy” — Adam tells him to shape his arrangement more and give it more of a story arc musically.  I have to say that I really like Casey’s version of this Elvis song.  It’s very R&B and current.  I could hear him singing this on an album and it doesn’t feel like the original at all and that’s a good thing.  Randy says, “I didn’t see anything differnt, but it was another solid performance.”  Ellen says, “It wasn;t as exciting as I would have liked to have seen.”  Kara says, “That really fell short for me.”  Simon says, “That was a wasted opportunity, but your vocal was good.”

Okay, Okay, Okay.  I will be the first to admit that I was wrong about Adam Lambert.  He did a really good job tonight and gave solid advice.  I am looking forward to him performing “Whadaya Want From Me” tomorrow night.  And because I haven’t picked a single Top 12 person to get the boot, I’m not predicting anymore.  Easy out.  I will say I think Andrew Garcia is in trouble.  His performance was not good and neither was Aaron Kelly’s.  So we’ll see if they make the cut.  See ya tomorrow night.