American Idol Results – Top 7
Show Me What I’m Looking For
Last night, we saw Casey James, Aaron Kelly, and Tim Urban in the Bottom Three, and one of them went home. But more on that in a bit…
The usual results show took a backseat to well over two hours worth of pageantry and fundraising for this year’s Idol Gives Back event, which spanned two auditoriums/theaters: Ryan Seacrest hosting from the routine Idol stage and Queen Latifah from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. It was a night packed with emotional footage, feeble attempt at humor, and lots of performances, all spanning the gamut of schlock and good taste. Let’s dive in, shall we?
For starters, I’m glad they still do this event. Yes, the show doesn’t have the same pull as it once had. Yes, the recession had lowered giving for most people. Yes, the cue card reading and cameo appearances felt corny and overwhelming. It’s still a tremendous gesture and effort from one of the most popular shows on television. And if you feel so inclined, please donate at www.idolaid.com or call at 877-Idol-Aid.
I do wish the goal was a little more focused, though, raising money for poverty, hunger, education, and disease control is a LOT to tackle. What’s the breakdown on the giving? If $10 million is raised, how much of that goes to any one of the causes—and does that make more of a difference than targeting one relief effort with more money? Questions I asked when watching the scattershot effort.
The tone of the evening felt mixed too. For every classy appearance (e.g. the always stately Morgan Freeman), there seemed to be two others that felt out of place. George Lopez’s hijacking of the results and critiquing the judges felt awkward and manic, though his stand-up assessment of the judges was admittedly funny (if not moldy and predictable). Jonah Hill and Russell Brand at least refrained from pimping their upcoming film Get Him to the Greek, but their phone block sketch only had a few chuckle-worthy moments—and the Jim Carrey cameo felt wasted.
And then there were the performances:
Top 12 Finalists – “Keeping the Dream Alive”
I was prepared for another cheesy lip-synced performance, but was still pleasantly surprised by the song choice. No it wasn’t another “Shout to the Lord” worship moment, but it thankfully wasn’t a cruddy medley of inspirational songs either. No, instead they dug deep and uncovered Freiheit’s excellent Beatle-esque anthem “Keeping the Dream Alive,” a favorite of mine from the Say Anything soundtrack 20 years ago. Nice to see the Top 12 reunited, but still no excuse for a bland lip-synced performance. (Plus, as my wife put it, Casey looked like a Gibb brother.)
C-
Black-Eyed Peas - “Rock that Body”
For everyone that wants to call “Keeping the Dream Alive” meaningless, I declare your comment null and void if you praised this “performance,” which once again championed spectacle over musicianship. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of the Peas, and I get that it was dance-pop, not deep songwriting. Nevertheless, the song was very inane, will.i.am seemed off rhythmically in his first rapped verse, and the group was surrounded by metallic bodysuit clad dancers that looked like the supporting cast from Metropolis or Flash Gordon (armed with laser guns, no less). On a night largely focused on charity and inspirational songs, this excessive number felt wayyy out of place.
D-
Joss Stone with Jeff Beck – “I Put a Spell on You”
One of the evening’s first odd song choices and musical pairings. But hey, when you combine one of today’s better blues-soul vocalists with one of the best living guitarists, it’s bound to work at least a little. It was kind of like Tina Turner singing with Clapton, backed by a gospel choir.
B+
Alicia Keys – “Unthinkable” and “Empire State of Mind (Part II)”
Oof, you may be the mentor this week, Alicia, but you were a little wispy on the high notes and pitchy overall—which is not good on a three-note song like “Unthinkable.” Things got better when you moved to the piano for “Empire,” a much better song selection, but things were still pitchy until you got stronger midway through. But hey, at least you performed. Just keeping it real, dawg.
C
Carrie Underwood – “Change”
Now here’s how you do it right. The Season 4 Idol champ belted with gusto and on key with a song very relevant to the night’s theme. Some of the twang in her voice felt out of place to me, but hard to fault such a powerhouse performance.
A-
Annie Lennox - “Universal Child”
The acclaimed Eurhythmic singer was unfortunately detained in the UK due to the Icelandic volcano’s no-fly zone (no way am I spelling that one!). She still performed via satellite (or pre-recording?) a very simple, stirring inspirational song that perfectly reflected her moving video clip with the HIV-infected child. Not as powerful or memorable a song, but it suited the evening.
B
Mary J. Blige – “Stairway to Heaven”
What? The R&B singer teamed up with Randy Jackson on bass, along with guitarists Orianthi, Steve Vai, and other musicians … for Led Zeppelin’s best known hit? A crazy combination, yet it somehow worked, anchored by an incredible vocal performance from Lady Blige. Still an odd choice for inspirational night, but it rocked the house.
A
Elton John – “Your Song”
What else can be said about a performance we’ve seen so many times over the last 40 years? Sir Elton was still great as usual with his sweet love song. I just wish there was something else to it to set it apart.
A
And that pretty much summed up the evening … oh, except for that pesky results thing, which seemed unfair to go through, given that they’ve postponed it for other Idol Gives Back weeks in the past. The contestants were grouped with little suspense in the pairings of Crystal vs. Casey and Lee vs. Aaron—the latter of each stuck in the Bottom Three. But the trio of Siobhan, Michael, and Tim was more intriguing.
In the end, Tim was the third one for the Bottom, and ultimately the one sent packing. And rightly so after his weakest performance in the last month. Say this much for the guy: against all odds, he went further than anyone expected, and ended up developing his talent along the way. Moreover, he handled himself with good-natured Christian grace. I wish the guy well—just don’t sign a record deal.
As for the weekly standings, here’s how I see it:
1. Crystal Bowersox – If she continues to improve, how can anyone else possibly surpass her?
2. Lee DeWyze – A slight step back this week, but still the clear runner-up this season.
3. Siobhan Magnus – The only thing saving her from uneven performances is her devout fan base.
4. Michael Lynche – His bombastic side could mean trouble, but he remains the best male singer.
5. Casey James – Consistently OK is not enough; desperately needs another breakout performance.
6. Aaron Kelly – Though arguably better this week, he remains consistently bland with his choices.
How did you feel about Tim going home last night? What about the overall evening? Were you moved by any of the performances? Appalled by any of them? Think they should keep doing Idol Gives Back in the future? And will Simon Cowell continue something similar when he eventually launches X Factor? Your thoughts, please.
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Representative of this season
Good recap. I think the show was representative of this Idol season so far. It had its moments. Some of them were superlative. The rest was either forgettable or really bad.
I thought the show should have led with Carrie Underwood's extraordinary performance. It captured the emotional tone that was intended for the evening. I couldn't help but notice how it invoked Garth Brooks' "The Change" so close to the anniversary of the event that inspired that song, the OK City bombing.
Two other quick thoughts:
1) Black Eyed Peas was a disaster, in part because of a totally inappropriate song, but also because of major sound issues. The Autotune mic sounded like a megaphone with low batteries. It must be a great challenge to pull off so many sets on a live show, though, so...
2) Annie Lennox was a triumph from a production perspective. I'm guessing she recorded her performance in London, but did you notice that as it was played in the theater the live strings accompanied it seamlessly? Well done.
I agree, Russ, I'm glad they still do this show and I pray the funds are managed with good stewardship.
Re: Representative of the season
1)Yeah, I left out the auto-tune commentary, simply because SO MANY guests have used it this season. Usher especially. It did sound a little off, and I've gotta point to EW's write-up, which said it was like the vocals were in the house next door and the rhythm track from down the street. It all just seemed out of sync and awful in every sense.
2)I noticed the strings too and figured it was either a beautiful case of syncing up to satellite or tape, or else they just mimed the whole thing for effect. I'd like to belive the former. Regardless, nicely done little performance by Ms. Lennox.
It was a decent event overall, but wasn't quite the EVENT it was in past years.